LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,     N.    J. 


BV  4253    .M356   S4    1890      v. 3 
McNeill,   John,    1854-1933. 
Sermons 


Ss^v. 


^=^*^  .    /<S'^ 


7' 


SERMONS 


BY   THE 


Rev.  JOHN   MCNEILL 


VOLUME  III 


FLEMING    H.   REVELL   COMPANY 
New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Publishers   of  Evangelical  Literature 


CONTENTS  VOL. 


NO.  PAGE. 

1.  What  David  Said  IN  His  Heart.     I  Samuel  xxvii.,  i.  i 

2.  Take  Ye  Away  the  Stone.     John  xi.,  39,  44.    .     .     .  17 

3.  The  Prophet's  Mantle.     II  Kings  iii.,  4-24.     ...  33 

4.  The  Lord  Sustained  Me.     Psalm  iii 49 

5.  James  and  Peter,  and  Herod  and  God. 

Acts  xii.,  i-io 65 

6.  Come!  Come!  Come!     Rev.  xxii.,  17 81 

7.  Prophesying  to  Dry  Bones.     Ezekiel  xxxvii.,  1-14.     .  97 

8.  A    Hasty    March    From  the  Fields  of   Bethlehem. 

Luke  ii.,  15.  16 113 

9.  "Launching  Out,"  "Letting  Down,"  and 

"  Leaving  All."     Luke  v.,  4 121 

10.  The  Boy  with  the  Dumb  and  Deaf  Spirit. 

Mark  ix.,  14.     . 137 

11.  A  "Terrible  Infant."     John  ix.,  18-23 153 

12.  The  Angel-Slummers.     Genesis  xix.,  15 169 

13.  The  Passionate  Pilgrim.     Ruth  i,  16 185 

14.  "What  Aileth  Thee,  Hagar?"    Genesis  xxi..  17,  19.  201 

15.  "The  Trial  and  Triumph  of  Faith."     Genesis  xxii.  217 

16.  "I  Feel  Like  Singing  All  the  Time."      Psalm  ciii.  233 

17.  Israel's  Keeper.     Psalm  cxxi 249 

18.  "Pray  Without  Ceasing."     Luke  xviii.,  1-7.         .     .  265 

19.  More    About    Prayer — Another    "Importunate." 

I  Kings  xviii.,  41  to  end 281 

20.  While  the  Children  are  About  Us.     Job.  xxix.,  5.  297 

21.  Healing  of  the  Leper.     Matt,  viii.,  1-4 313 

22.  JoTHAM,   King  and  Saint.     II  Chron.  xxvii.       .  329 

23.  "  Out  of  Darkness,  Into  Light."    John  ix.,  11.  345 

24.  "  By  Faith  Rahab  the  Harlot  Perished  Not." 

Joshua  ii 361 

25.  Direct  Dealing  with  God  in  Prayer.    Phil,  iv.,  6.  7.  377 

26.  Two  Grand  Old  Men.    Joshua  xiii..  i  ;  xiv.,  6-13.    .  393 


il^gent  ^Squaa  f  ulpit. 


WHAT  DAVID   SAID  IN  HIS  HEABT. 


%  SermoiT 

Preached  at  Regent  Square  Church, 
ON  Sabbath  Morning,  November  9th,  1890, 

BY  THE 

REV,  JOHN  McNeill 


Text.  — 1  Samuel  xxvii.  1. 

"  David  said  in  his  heart,  I  shall  now  perish  one  day  by  the 
hand  of  Saul  :  there  is  nothing  better  for  me  than  that  I 
should  speedily  escape  into  the  land  of  the  Philistines." 
We  find  David  here  where  the  Word  of  God  allows  us 
occasionally  to  find  some  of  God's  best  and  greatest  servants. 
Lest  they  should  feel  exalted  above  measure,  they  were 
brought  down  into  great  depths,  and  made  to  dwell  in  dark 
places  many  a  time.  And  I  suppose,  lest  we  also,  readiug 
their  lives,  if  there  had  been  no  such  record  as  this,  lest  we 
might  be  depressed  by  seeing  how  unshaken  was  their 
strength  and  courage,  even  in  the  darkest  hours,  the  Word 
of  God  shows  us  carefully  that  they  were  men  of  like  pas- 
sions with  ourselves,  even  the  "brightest  and  best  of  these 
sons  of  the  morning."  Elijah  lies  down  under  a  juniper-tree, 
fleeing  from  the  curse  of  a  woman — he  who  has  withstood 
Vol.  III.— No.  1. 


2  WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    KIS    HEART. 

all  the  godless  power  of  his  age  alone  on  the  heights  of 
Carmel.  And  David  here,  at  last,  gives  in,  and  says,  "  I 
shall  now  perish  one  day  by  the  hand  of  Saul :  there  is 
nothing  better  for  me  than  that  I  should  speedily  escape 
into  the  land  of  the  Philistines." 

David  in  the  dumps  :  just  to  state  it  plainly,  and  without 
too  fine  a  point  upon  it.  Does  not  this  bring  him  near  to 
us,  who  are  so  often  dull,  and  dispirited,  and  discouraged? 
Let  us  learn  from  David  here.  Notice,  first  of  all :  David 
said  this  in  Ms  heart.  Watch,  as  David  ought  to  have 
watched.  Watch  against  the  tendency  to  brood  over  your 
troubles,  and  say  sad  things  to  yourself,  in  your  heart.  It 
would  be  a  much  better  plan  sometimes  to  say  them  out 
loud.  I  know  that  from  this  very  place  I  have  discouraged 
the  spreading  of  doubt ;  and  have  said,  and  would  repeat, 
"  If  you  have  got  doubts,  keep  them  to  yourself."  But 
that  depends  upon  what  kind  of  doubt  it  is.  In  an  hour 
like  this  it  would  have  done  David  good  (and  it  will  do  you 
good,  my  discouraged  brother  and  sister)  to  have  expressed 
to  some  friend,  in  actual  word  and  shape,  that  dull,  heart- 
less, despairing  thought  that  lay  on  his  heart  like  a  lump  of 
lead. 

David  said  it  in  his  heart.  If  he  had  only  gone  and  said 
it  to  some  boon  companion,  **  It  is  all  up  ;  I  am  marked  for 
destruction  ;  I  am  done  for,  and  my  time  is  come,"  ic 
would  have  given  the  friend  a  chance  to  have  vigorously 
but  kindly  contradicted  him;  to  have  reminded  him  of 
things  that  he  was  forgetting;  to  have  spoken  to  him  of 
God,  and  the  covenant  and  promise  of  God,  of  that  far- 


WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEART.  3 

back  day  when  Samuel  in  God's  name  called  him  to  be 
king  in  the  place  of  Saul ;  when  he  was  anointed  in  the 
midst  of  his  brethren,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  upon 
him,  as  the  Scripture  says,  ''from  that  day  and  forward." 
Yes,  to  unlock  our  hearts  at  times  would  do  us  good.  It  is 
a  precious  privilege  when  you  are  in — shall  I  say? — the 
blues ;  when  you  are  in  this  kind  of  spiritual  delirium 
tremens;  when  you  are  intoxicated,  not  with  liquor,  but 
when  your  brain,  and  heart,  and  judgment  are  reeling 
because  God  in  His  providence  has  put  a  bitter  cup  to  your 
lips,  and  is  compelling  you  to  drain  it  to  the  dregs ;  when 
hope  is  being  deferred,  and  therefore  your  heart  is  getting 
so  sick  that  at  last  you  cast  away  both  shield  and  sT^ear, 
and  say,  "  I  shall  now  perish  one  day  by  the  hand  of  Saul." 
Don't  say  it  in  your  heart.  In  an  hour  of  weak  faith, 
which  is  virtually  an  hour  of  unbelief,  the  believer's  heart 
is  a  place  of  darkness  where  it  is  always  November,  with  a 
fog  that  seems  to  be  impenetrable,  and  nothing  all  round 
but  rushing  noises  and  gruesome,  flesh-creeping  sounds  that 
increase  your  fright  and  despair.  Turn,  then,  from  solitary 
brooding  to  some  brother  born  for  adversity,  some  "  Son  of 
Consolation,"  and  unpack  your  load  to  him.  But  further, 
if  David  had  just  taken  this  thought  out  of  his  Jicart  and 
gone  in  before  God  with  it !  David  could  pray ;  he  was  a 
power  in  prayer.  And  if  he  had  gone  in  before  God  and 
tried  to  make  this  thought  of  his  sad  heart  into  a  prayer,  he 
would  have  found  that  there  wasn't  enough  tow  to  make  a 
rope  that  would  reach  to  God.  You  can  spin  away  at  it 
as  long  as  you  like,  but  you  will  never  make   a  prayer 


4  WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEART. 

of  it.  Such  a  thought  as  this,  "  I  shall  perish,"  won't 
pray.  To  get  deliverance,  try  to  turn  your  doubt  into 
prayer,  and  see  how  your  tongue  wags  empty  in  your 
head.  You  cannot  pray  this.  Go  and  try  it,  you  who 
are  badgered,  and  worried,  and  threatened  by  besetting 
sins — by  troubles  that  seem  to  blot  out  heaven,  and  make  the 
present  evil  world  more  noisy  and  oppressive  than  ever. 
Let  David  go  in  before  God,  and  say  **  out  loud,"  "  Oh  God, 
here  I  am.  I  am  David.  I  am  the  man  with  the  promise. 
I  am  the  man  over  whose  head  the  horn  of  oil  was  poured. 
I  am  the  man  to  whom  Thou  didst  promise  to  give  the 
throne  of  Saul ;  and  I  have  come  before  Thee  to  say,  *  It's  all 
over  :  I  shall  perish  by  Saul's  hand.' "  Thsn  he  luould  have 
discovered  the  blasphemy  of  it.  Then  your  tongue  would 
cleave  to  the  roof  of  your  mouth,  and  you  would  say, 
"  Perish  the  thought  of  perishing  !  I  shall  not  die,  but  live 
and  declare  the  works  of  the  Lord."  Ah  !  the  thought  that 
won't  pray  is  of  the  devil ;  and  you  are  relieved  when  you 
discover  it.  You  bend  your  knees  before  God  and  say, 
**  Oh  God,  I  must  not  say,  *  Thou  art  a  liar,  and  Samuel  is 
a  liar,  and  everybody  is  a  liar  but  me  '  "  (but  it  rather  means 
that).  "'Oh  God,  Saul  is  greater  than  Thou  art.  Thou 
hast  taken  a  work  in  hand,  and  Thou  art  not  able  to  finish 
it.  Thou  didst  begin  to  build  a  tower,  and  Thou  hast  run 
short  of  material.  I  shall  one  day  perish  by  the  hand  of 
Saul ! '  " 

Then  there  is  another  way  of  getting  rid  of  these  thoughts 
that  burrow  in  our  hearts.  First,  as  we  have  seen,  speak  to 
Another,  and  he  will  help  you.    You  will  find  your  better  self 


WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEART.  5 

in  him.  Or,  next,  speak  to  God  in  prayer,  and  you  will  find 
this  doleful  thing  won't  pray.  Or,  yet  again,  try  to  sing  it. 
I  say  again,  David  was  something  of  a  singer.  Now, 
suppose  he  had  tried  to  compose  a  song  on  this  magnificent 
theme,  "  I  shall  now  one  day  perish  by  the  hand  of  Saul," 
what  a  psalm  that  would  have  been !  What  a  grunt  in  it, 
what  a  squeak,  what  a  growl !  Here  is  a  specimen  of  the 
dreary  doggerel  which  would  have  been  produced  by  such 
inspiration,  or  desperation  rather  : 

"God  said  that  He  would  raise  me, 

And  set  me  up  on  high. 
But  mighty  Saul  he  sla3's  me 

In  howling  Engedi." 
Chorus  :  "  In  howliiis  Enpedi,"  &c. 

He  never  dreamed  of  doing  that.  If  he  had  only  tried 
he  would  have  found  that  this  thought,  "  I  shall  perish,  God 
notwithstanding,"  will  neither  say,  nor  pray,  nor  sing. 

And  when  you  find  that  out,  you  are  able  to  say,  '*  Get 
thee  behind  me,  Satan.  Thou  art  an  offence  unto  me. 
Thou  savourest  not  of  the  things  that  be  of  God,  and  the 
covenant  and  the  oath  that  shall  outlast  the  heavens. 
But  thou  savourest  the  things  that  be  of  earth,  and  time, 
and  sin."  I  am  inclined  to  push  this  even  further.  David 
was  a  good  musician,  and  he  might  have  tried  to  play  it  on 
his  harp;  but  no  well-conducted  instrument  would  ever 
lend  itself  to  such  blasphemy.  You  can  neither  say,  pray, 
sing,  play,  or  even  whistle  it :  "I  shall  perish  by  the  hand 
of  Saul."  It  is  a  thought  that  will  only  live  in  a  despond- 
ing heart.  And  that  David  said  it  "in  his  heart"  the 
Bible  is  careful  significantly  to  record. 


6  WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEART. 

Then  notice  how  extremes  meet.  Notice  how  a  beUever 
in  the  extreme  of  timidity  and  fright  joins  hands  with  an 
atheist.  David  said  in  his  heart,  "  I  shall  perish."  "  The 
fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  There  is  no  God."  Extremes 
meet,  the  extreme  of  atheism  and  the  extreme  of  faithless- 
ness in  a  believer ;  paradoxical  though  it  may  seem,  they 
come  virtually  to  the  same  thing  :  "  There  is  no  God.  This 
world  was  made  for  Caesar,  and  Caesar  has  me  in  his  clutch, 
God  and  the  promise  notwithstanding." 

I  want  to  be  hard,  you  see,  on  us,  for  when  it  comes  to 
this,  sharp  strong  tonics  are  needed.  Mild  soothing  syrups 
are  of  no  avail  when  the  soul  has  got  into  this  condition. 
We  need  to  be  roused  and  stimulated ;  somebody  needs  to 
love  us  well  enough  to  grip  us  by  the  shoulders  and  shake 
us  roundly.  There  is  where  David  landed  himself.  By 
looking  on  Saul,  and  misreading  the  past,  and  taking  a 
wrong  forecast  of  the  future,  he  came  to  the  same  position 
as  the  poor  atheist,  whom  he  himself,  in  a  brighter  moment, 
called  a  fool :  "  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  No  God." 

We  are  very  much  like  each  other.  If  I  lose  hold  of 
God,  where  am  I?  If  I  lose  hold  of  my  simple  faith  in 
what  God  has  promised,  and  what  He  has  revealed  in 
Christ  Jesus,  there  are  no  depths  of  blackness  and  god- 
lessness  into  which  I  may  not  descend.  My  strength — 
my  only  strength — is,  not  genius,  or  learning,  or  a  high 
position  in  God's  Church,  or  great  usefulness  in  His  vine- 
yard— my  one  and  only  strength  is  faith  in  the  love  of 
God,  who  spoke  to  me  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  said,  "  Believe 
in  Me,  and  I  will  crown  you  and  set  you  on  the  throne." 


WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEART.  7 

All  I  have  for  it  is  His  word ;  and  if  I  lose  faith  in  that,  the 
devil  in  the  meantime  has  cut  with  his  long  shears  the  cord 
that  binds  me  to  the  throne  of  heaven,  and  I  fall  back  into 
the  pit  of  practical  atheism.  I  have  no  hope,  and  am 
without  God  in  the  world. 

Then  another  thing  I  want  you  to  notice  is,  when  we  get 
faint-hearted,  and  lose  sight  of  God,  and  Christ,  and  the 
exceeding  great  and  precious  promises,  how  unbelief  waxes 
strong,  and  bold,  and  very  impudent.  It  begins  to  get  ex- 
ceeding proud.  *'  How  absolute  the  knave  is  !  "  "I  shall 
now  perish  one  day  by  the  hand  of  Saul."  Unbelief  gets 
hold  of  the  imagination,  and  working  through  the  imagina- 
tion, when  faith  ought  to  be  working  there,  conjures  up  the 
whole  circumstance.  He  sees  himself  in  the  grip  of  Saul, 
and  almost  imagines  that  the  hour  of  butchery  is  come. 
Unbelief  in  your  heart  will  do  the  same.  The  weak,  timid, 
overborne  faith  will  feed  itself  on  all  that  is  dark  (seem- 
ingly) round  about,  and  bring  vividly  in  close  upon  the 
heart  this  thought,  "  by  the  hand  of  Saul." 

The  relief  is  found  just  this  way :  Let  us  turn  round 
upon  ourselves,  let  us  turn  round  upon  this  unbelief,  and 
try  to  get  at  the  thing  definitely  and  plainly.  For  there 
is  a  wonderful  vagueness  after  all  in  this  threatening,  **  I 
shall  now  perish  one  day."  Oh,  the  meanness  of  the  devil ! 
"  One  day."  If  he  would  just  come  and  tell  me  explicitly 
what  day  it  is,  and  let  me  know  the  worst,  and  get  ready 
for  the  funeral,  and  serve  the  notices  upon  my  friends  that 
they  may  be  there  !  But  he  says,  "■  One  day,"  "  Some  day." 
It  is  coming,  it  is  coming.     "  I  will  blot  you  out.     I  will 


8  WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEART. 

destroy  you.  Some  of  these  clays  I  will  be  round.  Don't 
you  say  *  cheep  '  to  either  God  or  man.  I  am  at  the  door, 
and  I  will  have  your  blood  some  of  these  outings."  When, 
0  devil?  When,  O  world?  When,  0  flesh?  Tell  us 
when  it  is  to  be.  Give  us  the  day  and  the  date.  I  am  a 
busy  man  myself,  and  my  book  gets  very  rapidly  filled  up 
with  engagements,  but,  really,  this  is  an  engagement  I 
would  like  to  attend.  Tell  us  precisely  when  it  is  to  be, 
that  we  may  enter  it  in  our  book,  and  be  sure  to  be  there. 
Name  the  day  !  That  is  how  to  get  at  the  devil  of  unbelief. 
He  never  can  name  the  day.  He  is  a  big,  blustering 
bravado  and  bully,  for  ever  talking  big  vague  threats,  but 
you  always  find  him  out  when  you  come  to  particulars. 
When  is  the  day  that  I  am  to  perish  by  the  hand  of  Saul  ? 

Well,  evidently  it  is  not  in  any  of  the  yesterdays.  It  is 
worth  while  just  to  open  the  calendar  and  see.  If  it  is  to 
be,  let  it  be.  As  well  kill  me,  as  frighten  me  to  death  !  So 
"we  look  through  past  yesterdays,  and  say,  "  Well,  of  course 
any  fool  can  see  that  I  can't  die  yesterday.  The  date  can't 
be  found  in  the  past."  Don't  smile  too  readily  at  that,  my 
friend.  Weren't  there  some  yesterdays  that  looked  full  like 
the  day  you  should  have  been  killed  ?  Days,  when  so  far 
as  your  watchfulness  was  concerned,  you  might  have  been 
killed.  Days  when  you  were  not  watching.  Days  when 
you  were  not  praying.  Days  when  the  enemy,  like  a  roar- 
ing lion,  was  going  about  seeking  to  devour  you — and  it  was 
not  your  own  vigilance  that  kept  you  from  him,  and  yet, 
behold  !  you  live  !  Not  dead  yet,  notwithstanding  all  these 
dark,  gloomy  days  through  which,  by  God's  grace,  you  have 


WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIE    HEART.  9 

come.  Might  you  not  get  an  argument  from  that  ?  From 
the  past  might  not  you  borrow  comfort  for  to-day  ?  Let 
memory  bring  up  to  you  actual  experiences  when  you  and 
Saul  were  together— that  is  to  say,  when  you  and  sin  were 
together — and  you  were  down  and  Saul  was  up,  and  his 
spear  was  at  your  throat.  Why  was  it  not  driven  home  ? 
It  was  not  you  that  kept  it ;  it  was  not  relenting  in  Saul 
that  spared  you.  He  meant  well  to  destroy  you.  Then 
why  do  you  live  ?     So  much  for  yesterday. 

Then  this  evil  day  about  which  the  devil  is  always 
bullying  you,  I  do  not,  somehow,  think  it  is  going  to  be 
to-day.  Surely  God  will  never  allow  the  devil  to  kill  us  on 
Sunday,  in  the  house  of  God,  and  at  the  gate  of  heaven. 
Watch  your  own  heart,  and  you  will  find  it  is  not  to  be 
to-day.  Even  at  our  lowest,  and  worst,  and  gloomiest,  we 
do  not  allow  ourselves  to  write  down  to-day  as  the  day 
and  date.  Somehow  or  another  we  shove  it  on  a  little  bit. 
Take  courage,  then.  If  you  can  be  kept  to-day,  it  is  to-day 
that  you  are  living.  You  have  nothing  to  do  with  yesterday 
except  to  extract  comfort  from  it.  "  Out  of  the  eater 
comes  forth  meat,  and  out  of  the  strong  comes  forth  sweet- 
ness." Your  yesterdays  are  like  Samson's  rent  lion.  Your 
yesterdays  are  turned  into  bare  white  carcases  filled  with 
honey.  Fill  your  hands  with  the  honey,  and  go  on  eating 
to-day. 

It  is  not  to  be  to-day.  Since  you  woke  up,  God  has  kept 
you  safe.  He  has  somehow  or  another  prevented  your  soul 
from  going  back  into  perdition  from  the  time  you  opened 
your  eyes  this  morning  till  ten  minutes  past  twelve.     This 


10  WHAT   DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS   HEART. 

is  what  He  has  done  in  all  the  clays,  ever  since  He  began  to 
deal  with  you.  In  this  last  day  in  which  you  have  lived, 
this  day  when  all  these  things  are  foreshortened  and  made 
prominent  and  vivid,  God  has  kept  you.  And  I  want  you 
to  believe  that  the  same  grace,  the  same  Invisible  Presence 
that  has  been  a  wall  of  fire  round  about  you  since  you 
began  this  morning,  that  has  kept  you  for  twelve  hours, 
can  keep  you  for  twelve  millenniums.  Narrow  the  thing 
down.  Do  not  let  fear  and  gloom  for  ever  drive  you  out 
before  them ;  but  turn  round,  resist  this  devil,  and  he  will 
flee  from  you.  Don't  be  overborne  by  bluster  and  vague 
threatenings.  "  I  shall  perish  one  day  by  the  hand  of 
Saul."  You  did  not  perish  in  the  days  past.  It  does  not 
look  as  if  you  are  going  to  perish  to-day.  And  as  for  to- 
morrow, you,  and  to-morrow,  and  Saul  are  in  wiser  and 
stronger  hands.  Don't  cross  the  bridge  before  you  come  to 
it.  Don't  carry  to-morrow's  burdens,  and  to-day's. 
"  Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof."  "  To-morrow 
will  take  thought  for  the  things  of  itself."  Thank  God 
that  in  this  brief  hour,  to-day,  we  have  been  able  to  see  the 
hollowness  of  our  fears;  their  unsubstantialness.  Even 
you  at  your  lowest  can  see  that  the  day  cannot  be  found  in 
all  the  hoary  registers  of  time.  The  day  when  you  shall  go 
under,  and  when  the  world  shall  have  its  foot  upon  your 
heart — that  day,  heaven,  nor  earth,  nor  hell  know  aught 
of  such  a  day.  *'  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life,  and  they 
shall  never  perish ;  neither  shall  any  pluck  them  out  of 
My  hand." 

**  There   is  nothing   better   for  me   than  that  I  should 


WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEAKT.  11 

speedily  escape  into  the  land  of  the  Philistines."  Ah  ! 
poor  David,  I  know  you  are  about  to  go  wrong.  I  have 
gone  wrong  in  that  way  myself.  You  are  going  to  take 
Saul,  and  your  salvation,  and  God  into  your  own  hands. 
We  all  often  do  that.  We  get  tired,  the  road  seems  long, 
and  a  thought  comes  into  us,  "  God  is  asleep.  What  is 
keeping  Him?"  "Doth  God  know;  and  is  there  know- 
ledge in  the  Most  High?"  *'  Why  is  He  so  long?"  And 
we  force  ourselves,  like  Saul  on  one  occasion.  We  force 
ourselves,  we  cannot  wait.  We  are  being  kept  too  long  in 
this  purgatory.  "  There  is  nothing  better  than  this  plan," 
we  say.  Now,  of  all  the  foolish  words  in  this  foolish  text, 
this  is  the  foolishest.  Even  unbelieving  German  critics 
have  been  swift  to  see  that  this  was  the  worst  move  on  the 
chessboard.  He  could  not  have  done  a  worse  thing  than 
the  thing  he  did — to  quit  the  land  of  promise,  with  all  its 
trials,  and  to  go  over  to  the  Philistines.  By  doing  this 
David  put  the  clock  back  for  years.  He  really  set  God 
upon  His  omnipotence  to  extricate  him  from  the  fearful 
tangle  into  which  he  put  himself,  when  he  said,  "  There  is 
nothing  better  than  that  I  should  speedily  escape." 

Oh,  again  I  repeat,  watch  yourself  when  the  fog  comei 
down.  How  many  persons  last  winter,  and,  I  fear,  this 
winter  again — how  many  persons  will  be  killed  through 
fogs !  Down  at  some  busy  place  is  some  poor  woman — 
shall  I  say  ?  In  the  midst  of  the  fog,  and  darkness,  and 
grinding  wheels,  and  contradictory  shouts  and  cries,  her 
judgment  reels,  and  she  makes  a  hasty  decision,  and  rushes 
in  this  direction — nothing  better  than  to  fly  here,  she  thinks 


12  WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEART. 

— and  she  lands  beneath  the  horses'  feet.  In  trying  to 
escape  from  harm,  you  walk  right  into  it.  Then,  stand  ! 
Having  done  all,  stand  !  Hold  hard  !  Stand  fast  in  a 
time  like  this.  Wait  for  God.  Wait ;  hope  in  His  Word  ; 
but  yield  an  inch — never  !     And  you  will  not  wait  in  vain. 

It  was  the  worst  thing  you  could  have  done,  and  it 
seemed  at  the  moment  so  wise.  "  Must  I  lie  rotting  in 
this  cave?  Must  I  be  for  ever  badgered  in  this  way  ?  "  Go 
to,  call  in  Mr.  Worldly  Wiseman.  A  very  clever  fellow  he 
is  when  God  has  gone  to  sleep.  Go  to,  call  in  Mr.  Carnal 
Policy,  another  sharper.  And  the  two  of  them  sit  down 
together — three  heads  are  better  than  one.  And  they  said, 
"  David,  here  is  a  bright  idea.  Go  over  to  the  Philistines, 
Saul  will  trouble  you  no  more."  And  they  would  wax 
eloquent  upon  the  political  aspect  of  this  move,  and  how  the 
land  lay  across  the  border ;  and  great  broad-browed,  clear- 
headed David,  in  a  moment  of  weakness,  became  as  wax  in 
these  ill  hands — he  yielded  to  these  suggestions,  and  bitterly 
he  rued  it. 

My  young  brother,  are  you  tempted  to-day  in  the  awful 
conflict  with  sin  to  say,  "  Preacher,  the  struggle  is  harder, 
and  longer,  and  more  taxing  and  severe  than  I  bargained 
for.  Preacher,  I  am  going  to  slip  my  cable  a  bit,  and  I  am 
going  to  take  it  easier.  This  being  for  ever  on  your  guard 
is  too  severe.  Is  there  no  easier  way  of  getting  there, 
preacher?  You  see,  I  meet  with  fellows  who  tell  me, 
*  Don't  be  so  holy  as  all  that  comes  to.  Don't  needlessly 
put  your  bows  into  the  front  of  all  these  big,  tumbling  seas. 
Don't  for  ever  be  rowing  against  the  current.     Do  as  I  am 


WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEART.  13 

doing :  slack  off,  take  it  easy,  go  with  the  wind.  Be  Qot 
righteous  overmuch.  Why  shouldst  thou  destroy  thyself  ? 
What  has  religion  given  you?'  they  say."  Eeligion!  It 
speaks  the  word  of  promise  to  our  ear,  but  breaks  it  to  our 
hope.  As  the  devil  would  whisper  to  David,  "  What  has 
God  given  you  since  you  believed  His  promise,  and  left 
keeping  sheep,  and  came  out  to  be  His  king?  Has  He 
brought  you  to  the  crown?  Saul  is  more  firmly  on  the 
throne  than  ever.  You  have  simply  brought  yourself  into 
a  peck  of  troubles,  and  the  sooner  you  quit  the  scene  the 
better."  "What  has  religion  done  for  you?"  the  devil 
whispers  in  a  man's  ear  in  London.  *'  Has  Faith  fur- 
thered you  in  your  business  ?  You  know  it  has  not.  By 
keeping  true  to  Christ,  and  a  clean  conscience,  you  have 
had  to  let  profits  go  past  you.  Other  men  *  took  it  easier  ;  ' 
they  sailed  with  more  wind  in  the  sheet.  Now,  see  the 
speed  they  have  made,  while  you  are  for  ever  close-hauled, 
and  lying-to  through  stress  of  weather.  Trim  your  sails 
the  other  way  ;  be  getting  on — be  getting  on  !  " 

So  with  other  suggestions  about  other  things.  We  are 
all  kind  of  soft  when  the  struggle  is  too  prolonged.  We  all 
feel  it  is  hard  to  crucify  the  flesh,  with  its  affections  and  its 
lusts,  and  to  mortify  our  members  that  are  upon  the  earth ; 
to  die  unto  sin,  and  to  live  unto  righteousness.  The  life  of 
the  believer  is  like  the  life  of  David — progress  by  antagonism, 
living  to  God  by  dying  to  self.  For  ever  subject  to  two 
kinds  of  pains — the  pains  of  dissolution,  and  the  ''growing 
pains,"  caused  by  the  soul  shooting  up  into  more  hoUness 
and  manliness. 


14  WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEAET. 

Now,  don't  yield.  Don't  escape  to  the  Philistines.  The 
Philistines  will  use  you.  Oh,  yes,  the  Philistines  will  use 
you.  The  Philistines  will  say,  *'  Come  along,  David.  We 
are  glad  to  see  you.  We  always  wondered,  David,  why 
you  took  the  dangerous  course  you  did.  There  is  another 
way — a  more  excellent  way  than  that  way — hiding  like  a 
rat  in  a  hole.  What  an  undignified  life  you  have  been 
living.  Come  to  us,  and  we  will  show  you  how  to  trump 
the  game  and  win  every  time  !  " 

Abide  with  God.  Keep  faith,  keep  heart,  keep  hope  ;  be 
in  subjection — no,  not  for  an  hour — to  the  thoughts  that 
make  you  depart  from  your  integrity. 

*•  When  we  in  darkness  walk, 
Nor  feel  the  heavenly  flame, 
Then  is  the  time  to  trust  in  God, 
And  lean  upon  His  name." 

Light  will  come ;  day  will  dawn.  Beware  of  desperate 
steps.  '*  The  darkest  day,  live  till  to-morrow,  will  have 
passed  away."     Stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  God. 

**  Blest  is  the  man,  0  God, 

Who  stays  himself  on  Thee. 
Who  wait  for  thy  salvation,  Lord, 
Shall  Thy  salvation  see." 

Oh  let  us  hold  fast  through  stress  of  weather.  Casr 
not  away  your  confidence,  like  poor  David,  who  pulled  up  hie 
anchor  and  ran  for  a  false  harbour. 

Of  course  the  waiting  time  is  a  testing  time.  David  was 
required  to  wait.  It's  a  grand  hardening,  toughening 
process,  having  to  wait.  While  you  are  waiting,  Providence 
has  you  on  the  anvil,  and  is  hammering,   pounding,    and 


WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEART.  15 

seeming  to  destroy  you.  It  is  not  so ;  God  is  working  you, 
and  the  end  will  show  how  splendidly,  to  His  own  sweet 
will,  and  to  His  own  magnificent  design. 

The  last  word  is  this — David,  as  we  know,  survived  Saul. 
His  fears  were  all  wrong.  They  were  bound  to  be  wrong. 
Saul  went  down  to  death  "  unwept,  unhonoured,  and 
unsung."  David  came  to  the  throne,  and  sat  for  long 
years  upon  it ;  and  this  time  of  trouble  was  left  far  behind 
him  ;  a  vanishing  speck  on  the  dim  horizon.  But  when 
his  days  of  honour,  and  affluence,  and  power  came,  then 
David  loell-nigh  2J(i^'ished,  not  by  the  hand  of  Saul,  but  by 
his  own.  His  own  unbridled  lusts  warred  against  his  soul. 
Look  nearer  home  for  your  enemy,  my  friend.  Your 
last  enemy  never  is  an  external  Saul.  Your  real  enemy  is 
never  outside.  Your  last,  worst  enemy  is  the  unsubdued 
sin  of  your  own  heart.  Watch  for  this  Saul.  Never  take 
your  eyes  off  this  traitor ;  for  in  such  an  hour  as  ye  think 
not,  he  will  lall  you  to  sleep,  make  you  think  he  is  not 
there ;  and  then,  as  stealthily  as  a  panther,  he  will  spring 
upon  you.  I  say,  look  nearer  home.  Watch  in  the  right 
direction,  not  in  the  wrong.     Let  uc  be  wise. 

My  last  word  is,  trust  in  God.  Our  fears  are  liars ;  our 
hopes  are  stars  that  stud  the  sky,  till  the  day  dawn,  and 
heaven's  morning  break.  "  They  that  wait  for  Me  shall 
never  be  ashamed."  "  He  that  belie veth  shall  not  make 
haste."  You  may  have  waited  long,  you  may  have  come 
through  many  trials,  and  still  they  seem  to  thicken  upon 
you.  Don't  lose  hope ;  don't  lose  heart ;  nil  desperaiidttm 
— never  despair. 


16  WHAT    DAVID    SAID    IN    HIS    HEAHT. 

**  My  God  who  causedst  me  to  hope,  ^ 

When  life  began  to  beat, 
And,  when  a  stranger  in  the  earth, 
Didst  guide  my  wandering  feet, 

"  Thou  wilt  not  cast  me  off  when  age 
And  evil  days  descend  ; 
Thou  wilt  not  leave  me  in  despair, 
To  mourn  my  latter  end. 

"  I  know  the  power  in  whom  I  trust, 
The  arm  on  which  I  lean  ; 
He  will  my  Saviour  ever  be, 
Who  hath  my  Saviour  been." 

Yes,  the  thing  that  hath  been  is  the  thing  that  shall  be : 
"  Saved  in  the  Lord,  with  an  everlasting  salvation."   Amen. 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


^tQtni  §qmxt  pulpit. 


TAKE  YE  AWAY  THE  STONE. 


%  Btxman 

Preached  at  Eegent  Square  Church, 
ON  Sabbath  Morning,  November  16th,  1890, 


REV.  JOHN  McNeill. 


Text. — "Jesus  said,  Take  ye  away  the  stone.  ...  He  that  was  dead 
came  forth,  bound  hand  and  foot  with  grave-clothes.  .  .  .  Jesus  saith 
unto  them.  Loose  him,  and  let  him  go." — John  xi.  39,  44. 

From  which  passages  preachers,  ever  since  the  beginning, 
I  suppose,  have  found  occasion  to  descant  on  this  theme : 
that  while  the  Lord  does  the  work,  and  the  Lord  gets,  or 
should  get,  all  the  glory.  He  will  not  do  for  us  what  we  can 
do  for  ourselves.  It  is  a  legitimate  use  of  the  text,  and  a 
most  needful  subject  for  teaching  and  exhortation.  May 
the  Spirit  of  God  open  up  and  apply  to  us  this  Scripture. 

You  know  the  circumstances.  Lazarus,  to  the  great  grief 
of  his  sisters,  had  died.  He  had  been  buried,  and  had  no^^ 
lain  in  his  grave  four  days.  The  Lord  knew  about  theii 
trouble  at  Bethany,  and  yet  stayed  away  till  all  was  over. 
"  Festina  lente,"  says  the  Latin  proverb;  He  "  made  haste 
slowly  "  to  come  to  them.  He  allowed  the  sickness  to  do 
its  worst,  so  that,  in  the  issue.  He  might  increase  their 
faith,  and  bring  glory  to  His  holy  name.      "  I  am  glad  for 

Vol.  III.— No.  2. 


18  TAKE   YE    AWAY   THE    STONE. 

your  sakes  that  I  was  not  there,"  He  said,  "  to  the  intent 
ye  may  believe.     Nevertheless,  let  ns  go  unto  him." 

When  the  Lord  arrived  at  Bethany,  you  remember  how 
they  gathered  round  Him,  the  sorrowing  sisters,  the  partly- 
sorrowing  and  partly-curious  neighbours.  You  remember 
also  that  natural,  human  question  He  asked,  '*  "Where  have 
ye  laid  him?"  And  their  natural  answer,  "Lord,  come 
and  see."  And  it  is  just  there  that  our  text  introduces  us 
to  the  solemn,  awful  scene  at  the  grave's  mouth,  where  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  brought  dead  Lazarus  back  again  to  life. 
He  dried  His  weeping  eyes,  and  theirs,  and  ours,  with  the 
last  best  only  solace — the  resurrection  from  the  dead. 

But  now  to  our  subject.  "  Take  ye,"  He  said,  "  Take  ye 
away  the  stone."  On  this  side  of  what  He  afterwards  did, 
the  stone  is  a  great  thing.  On  the  other  side  it  is  nothing, 
or  next  to  nothing,  and  I  want  you  to  look  at  that.  Here 
is  a  great  supernatural  work,  the  greatest  work  that  Christ 
did,  made  to  depend,  or  to  wait  upon,  such  a  small  thing  as 
this.  "  Take  ye  away  the  stone."  He  will  not  do  it.  He 
could  have  done  it.  We  all  sympathize  with  Bishop  Hall, 
who,  in  his  pithy  way,  says  that  if  a  thousand  rocks  and 
mountains  had  been  piled  upon  dead  Lazarus,  Christ,  by 
His  word,  could  still  have  lifted  him  up.  **  How  then,"  he 
says,  *'  does  He  seem  to  stick  at  this  mere  shovelful :  'take 
ye  away  the  stone  ?  ' "  Ah,  He  sticks  at  the  shovelful  surely 
in  order  to  draw  our  attention  to  the  shovelful,  in  order  to 
convince  us  that,  as  Bishop  Hall  again  says,  "  until  our 
hands  do  their  utmost.  His  do  not  move."  Then,  to  come 
to  the  application  to  Christian  work  and  workers,  it  just 
comes  to  this  :  Do  we  want  to  see  Lazarus  up  again  ?  Do 
we  love  our  brother  enough  to  want  to  see  him  restored  ? 
I  speak  now  spiritually ;    I  do  not  take  time  to  prove  that 


TAKE    YE    AWAY    THE    STONE.  1% 

there  is  here  a  parable  and  symbol  of  spiritual  death  and 
spiritual  restoration.  I  take  that  for  granted,  and  come 
at  once  to  the  point,  and  to  what  we  are  all  talking  about 
in  these  days,  General  Booth's  plan,  through  the  agency  of 
the  Salvation  Army,  for  bringing  up  again  from  the  graves 
of  lust  and  drunkenness,  starvation  and  physical  misery, 
the  '*  submerged  tenth."  Do  we  want  to  see  our  brother 
raised  ?  Do  we  want  to  see  death  rolled  back  and  life 
brought  in?  Do  we  want  to  see  misery  undone,  souls 
saved,  this  quarter  of  society  sweetened  and  made 
clean  ?  Then  the  proof  of  the  reality  of  our  wanting 
to  see  that  is,  bend  your  back  and  lift.  "  Take  ye  away 
the  stone."  Until  God  sees  us  in  "  dead  earnest,"  bending 
our  backs,  leaving  our  "dainty  loves  and  slothful  sym- 
pathies," and  taking  a  two-handed  grip  of  all  manner  of 
obstructions,  He  will  not  move.  He  cannot  be  deceived. 
"  God  is  not  mocked.  Whatsoever  we  sow,  that  we  shall 
reap;  "  and  if  we  only  sow  sentiment  and  half-heartedness, 
do  not  let  ns  expect  to  reap  social  and  individtial  regenera- 
tion. 

**  Take  ye  away  the  stone."  This  was  the  stone,  as 
Dr.  Cuyler  puts  it,  "  the  stone  that  stopped  the  blessing," 
and  many  is  the  stone  that  stops  the  blessing  at  this  very 
day.  Let  us  look  again  at  that — stones  that  stand  between 
Christ  and  the  quickening  of  dead  souls,  dead  families, 
dead  cities,  dead  nations,  a  dead  world.  Well,  here  is  one 
great  stone  that  Martha  mentioned  at  first :  "  Lord,  by  this 
time  he  stinketh.  He  has  been  dead  four  days.  Let 
the  stone  alone.  Do  not  meddle  with  it — it  is  too  late." 
We  are  almost  thankful  to  Martha  for  bringing  it  out 
blankly  and  openly.  "  Lord,  Thou  hast  come  too  late,  even 
Thou.     Thou  shouldest  have  been  here  four  days  ago,  and 


20  TAKE   YE    AWAY   THE    STONE. 

earlier."  It  is  well  to  bring  it  out — that  one  great  stone 
that  stops  the  blessing  is  what,  for  want  of  a  better  name, 
we  must  call  Christian  unbelief.  Even  while  our  hearts  are 
wrung  at  the  misery  and  distress,  there  is  this  hard  rock 
within  them  :  '*  It  is  too  late ;  can't  be  done.  No  use  try- 
ing." May  the  Lord  help  us  to  roll  away  that  stone.  It 
is  a  real  obstacle — take  ye  that  away.  Do  we  beheve, 
Christian  brothers,  do  we  believe  this  grave  can  be 
emptied  ?  Do  ye  believe  the  drunkard  can  be  taken  out 
of  his  pit  ?  Do  ye  believe  that  she  whom  we  pharisaically 
call  the  "fallen  sister"  can  be  saved ?  That  the  masses  can 
be  reached?  Take  all  these  pits,  and  caves,  and  graves, 
with  their  swollen  corpses ;  now,  do  ye  believe  that  if  we 
uncover  them,  if  we  show  the  road  out  of  them,  the  Lord  of 
life  and  glory  will  do  His  part — **  ^es"  or  "  No  "  ? 

Before  we  tackle  General  Booth's  scheme,  before  we  go 
a  step  further  with  our  own  smaller  schemes — for  his  is 
just  on  a  big  scale  what  we  have  all  been  doing  in  a  smaller 
way  for  years — before  we  tackle  it,  let  us  see  that  we  have 
got  this  stone  rolled  away  that  lay  big  and  heavy  on  dear 
Martha's  heart.  Nobody  will  accuse  Martha  of  indifference. 
She  would  fling  her  arms  round  her  brother  if  she  could 
only  get  him  back.  But  see  what  a  blinding  thing  unbelief 
is.  "Lord,  Thou  hast  come  too  late,"  she  virtually  says. 
When  we  think  of  the  "  submerged  tenth,"  and  how  they 
have  got  there,  and  how  long  they  have  been  there  ;  when 
we  think  of  the  four  days,  and  their  fast-multiplying 
corruption,  how  fares  it  with  our  Faith  and  Hope  ?  For  I 
believe  that,  physically,  Martha  was  right.  I  think  you  are 
wrong  if  you  take  the  view  that  God  kept  that  body  from 
the  natural  process  of  decomposition.  When  we  think,  I  say, 
of  the  grave^  and  the  stone  at  the  mouth  of  it,  and  all  the 


TAKE    YE    AWAY   THE    STONE.  21 

riot  of  death  within,  do  we  believe  that  there  is  a  Power 
in  the  Cemetery — a  Power  on  the  field,  not  too  late,  not 
too  weak,  but  adequate  most  marvellously  to  undo  what 
sin,  and  death,  and  hell  have  brought  about  ? 

Some  commentators  say  that  the  Lord  said  gently  to 
Martha,  "  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that  if  thou  wouldest 
beheve,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God?"  I  don't 
believe  there  was  a  gentle  tone  or  syllable  in  what  He  said. 
I  believe  if  ever  the  Christ  of  God  was  roused  to  rebuke  His 
own,  it  was  then ;  and  that  He  turned  round  firmly,  with  no 
softness  or  gentleness  in  either  voice,  or  look,  or  emphasis : 
"  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that  if  thou  wouldest  believe,  thou 
shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God  ?  "  The  Christian  Church 
needs  that  to-day.  We  all  need  it  gathered  here  this 
morning.  **  Said  I  not  unto  thee — what  do  ye  count  Me 
for  ?  "  saith  the  Lord,  as  He  steps  on  the  scene.  "  Why  will 
you  work  out  your  calculations  for  the  regeneration  of  the 
individual,  or  society,  or  the  race,  and  leave  out  this 
tremendous  factor,  "I  am  the  Eesurrection  and  the  Life, 
AND  I  AM  HERE."  *'  The  Sou  of  Man  is  come,  and  that  alters 
every  calculation."  The  very  multiplication-table,  the  four 
days,  this  *'  Eeady-Eeckoner  "  of  unbeHef  is  fallacious. 

We  come  back  to  this:  "Is  the  stone  lifted?"  Take 
away  the  stone,  first  of  all,  of  unbelief,  of  poor  faith,  of 
grief  that  has  made  its  eyes  so  blurred  and  red  with 
weeping  that  it  cannot  see  the  Lord.  That  is  weeping 
overdone.  Dry  your  eyes  from  that  grief  as  quickly  as 
you  can,  and  set  your  face  on  His.  Aye,  there  are  many 
stones.  A  hundred  years  ago  the  Church  was  asked  to 
face  the  task  of  foreign  missions.  This  was  the  stone  that 
lay  between  her  and  that  Divine  work :  "  Ah,"  she  said, 
*'  it  is  not  the  Lord's  time.     Can't  be  done."    Not  "  too 


22  TAKE   YE   AWAY  THE    STONE. 

late,"  was  Martha's  objection  then,  but  *'  too  soon."  Those 
who  advocated  the  carrying  out  of  Christ's  own  command, 
"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature,"  were  stopped  by  this  stone,  "  When  the  Lord 
wants  to  quicken  the  heathen,  He  will  do  it.  We  must 
wait  His  time."  And  it  was  not  until  that  heavy  stone  of 
the  Church's  indifference  was  lifted  away  that  the  blessing 
came.  I  have  heard  of  some  very  earnest  souls  who  wished 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen.  But  this  stone  lay 
in  their  path — the  difference  of  language.  And  they  thought 
the  Lord  should  not  only  quicken  the  dead,  but  take  away 
the  stone  also.  So,  instead  of  stooping  to  the  hard  drudgery 
of  learning  the  language,  they  waited  upon  God  in  prayer 
for  the  gift  of  foreign  speech,  as  at  Pentecost.  Needless 
to  say,  they  waited  in  vain ;  their  only  answer  was,  **  Take 
ye  away  the  stone." 

Point  me  a  spot  under  heaven  where  the  Church,  by  her 
lowly,  solitary,  but  devoted  missionaries,  has  done  what 
she  could,  and  the  Lord  has  withheld  His  quickening 
power  ?  In  India,  in  China,  in  Africa,  from  the  snows  of 
the  North  till  you  approach  the  snows  again  of  the  South, 
wherever  we  have  bent  to  roll  away  the  stone,  Christ  has. 
said,  ''Come  forth;"  and  they  have  come.  To  say  that 
foreign  missions  are  a  failure  is  blasphemy,  gross  and 
inexcusable. 

To  come  nearer  home,  we  have  the  same  stones — stones 
that  stop  the  blessing.  There  is  the  stone  of  the  drink 
trafi&c.  We  lament  about  the  drunkard  ;  we  gather  round 
that  awful  charnel-cave,  into  which  so  many  have  fallen 
through  the  destroying  power  of  this  death,  and  we  say, 
"  Can  these  men  live?  "  God  says  it  back  to  us  again,  as, 
in  a  vision,  he  said  it  to  EzekieL    As  we  stand  beside  that 


TAKE    YE   AWAY    THE    STONE.  23 

sepulchre  of  death,  strong  drink,  we  can  hear  the  same  voice : 
"Son  of  Man,  can  these  bones  live?"  And,  like  Ezekiel 
looking  at  the  bones,  we  can  scarcely  say  "Yes;"  looking  at 
our  Questioner,  we  dare  not  say  "No."  God  always  stands 
there.  He  doesn't  want  anything  like  hallooing,  or  cock- 
crowing,  windiness,  or  extravagance.  On  the  other  hand, 
no  groaning,  and  moaning,  and  saying,  "It  is  too  late." 
Keep  your  eye  on  Him.  Ezekiel  was  told  to  take  away  the 
stone.  "  Son  of  Man,  prophesy  to  the  bones  ;  "  preach  to 
the  bones.  Do  what  you  can  ;  bare,  white,  and  glistening 
although  they  be,  preach;  roll  away  the  stone  of  do- 
nothingism  and  mere  lamentation,  and  then  trust  Me  for 
the  quickening  breath. 

So  in  connection  with  the  drink  traffic — God  will  save  our 
drunkards ;  so  in  connection  with  what  we  call  the  "  social 
evil" — God  will  save  the  fallen  sister;  God  will  cleanse 
our  streets,  but  we  will  have  to  take  away  the  stone. 
What  is  the  sense  of  having  drinking  shops  at  every  corner 
for  poor  Lazarus  when  he  comes  out  ?  What  is  the  use  of 
asking  God  to  empty  these  graves  of  lust,  while  we  are  still 
filled  with  all  our  Pharisaism  and  stuckupness  towards  the 
fallen  sister?  Eoll  away  that  stone.  How  many  of  you 
are  prepared  to  speak  to  your  fallen  sister  at  King's  Cross? 
How  much  do  you  want  to  see  her  raised  from  death? 
Take  away  the  stone,  the  dark,  cursed  stone  of  pharisaical 
pride,  and  drawing  in  of  our  skirts,  and  talking  about 
"fallen  women."  And  are  there  no  fallen  men?  How 
many  of  you  are  u;p,  pray  ?  And  if  you  are  up,  who  lifted 
you,  who  lifted  you  ?  Who  made  you  to  differ  from  another? 
And  what  hast  thou  that  thou  didst  not  receive?  Then, 
why  do  you  glory  as  if  you  had  not  received  it?  You 
remember  the  lines  of  Heury  Francis  Lyte ;  but  don't  let 


24  TAKE    YE    AWAY   THE    STONE. 

US  hear  them  simply  for  their  fine  Gospel  sentiment.     Let 
us  prove  their  truth. 

"  She  is  not  dead,  she  only  sleeps." 
He  is  thinking,  at  first,  of  the  little  girl  of  Jairus,  and  of 
what  our  Lord  said  at  her  bedside ;  but  he  passes  on  to  our 
subject. 

"  She  is  not  dead,  she  only  sleeps, 
Life  in  her  soul  its  vigil  keeps, 
Tho'  dark  the  cloud,  tho'  strong  the  chain, 
Speak,  Lord,  and  she  shall  live  again. 

**  She  is  not  dead — it  cannot  be, 
That  she  whose  soul  so  glowed  to  Thee, 
Should  all  that's  past  renounce,  forget, 
Oh,  speak  !  and  she  will  hear  Thee  yet. 

**  A  look  of  Thine  can  melt  the  heart, 
A  touch  of  Thine  can  life  impart, 
The  very  grave  Thy  voice  must  hear, 
Oh,  bid  it  reach  our  sister's  ear. 

**  She  is  not  dead — Thy  voice  Divine, 
Can  still  reclaim,  and  seal  her  Thine, 
And  'neath  Thy  wing  she  yet  may  dwell, 
More  meek,  more  safe,  than  ere  she  fell." 

Take  away  the  stone  of  indifference,  pride,  laziness,  mere 
idle  hand-wringing,  and  head-shaking,  "  Oh,  oh,  oh,  oh  !  " 
Much  good  that  will  do  !  Bend  your  back  and  lift.  I 
could  spend  hours  on  this  application  of  our  text,  and  be 
quite  spiritually  exegetical.  Till  it  was  done,  nothing  was 
done;  and,  as  I  shall  show  later  on,  after  it  was  done,  there 
was  still  a  great  deal  to  do. 

But  here  is  General  Booth's  scheme.  And  there  surely 
we  shall  have  Continental  nations  laughing  at  us,  as  they 
often  do  in  their  sleeves,  at  the  fits  and  starts  we  take. 
We  are  going  to  be  desperately  good,  and  we  are  going  to 
finish  it  all  in  a  day.    Here  we  go,  as  the  old  rhyme  has 


TAKE    YE    AWAY   THE    STONE.  25 

it :  "  Soldier,   sailor,   tinker,   tailor,   rich  man,   poor  man, 
prophet,  and  priest ! "  Now,  let  us  keep  our  heads  level.    It  is 
a  needed  work,  and  let  us  do  it ;  but  for  the  sake  of  common 
sense,  make  no  fuss  about  it.      It  is  a  perfectly  obvious  and 
natural  thing  to  do,  now  that  this  Heaven-sent  man  has 
called  our  attention  to  it.     God  bless  him,  and  keep  him 
clear  of  committees !    But  when  you  have  done  it,  say, 
"  We  are  unprofitable  servants.     We  have  only  done  what 
it  was  our   duty   to   do."     Go   on.     Give   the  General  a 
hundred  thousand  pounds,  or  ten  times  that.     I  hear  that 
there  is   trouble  down  in  the  City,  that  the  hearts  of  our 
mightiest  traffickers  are  almost  failing  them  for  fear.     Now, 
"the  City"  wants  to  propitiate  the  Almighty — I  say  it 
deliberately — to  avert  the  stunning  blow  that  He  might  well 
deal  us  right  between  the  eyes,  for  our  feverish  haste  to  be 
rich  and  wax  great,  no  matter  how.  Let  the  City  give  General 
Booth  his  million.      And  may  God  accept  the  sin-offering. 
O  City!  draw  out  thy  soul  to  the  hungry,  then  shall  thy 
light  rise  in  obscurity.     Thus  saith  the  Lord,  whose  holy 
name     is     graven     on     thine     Exchange.       But      then 
to    return.       Understand    how     much     and    how    little 
you     have     done.      You    have     only    rolled    away    the 
Btoiis.      You    have    left    lots    for    Christ    to    do.      The 
Gospellers,  with  their  Gospel  of  eternal  life  in  Christ  alone, 
will  never  be  superseded .     Do  not  be  the  least  afraid  that 
philanthropy  and  social  economy  are  taking  the  place  and 
going  to  do  the  work  of  the  preacher.     Let  us  all  help  to 
roll  away  the  stone.     I  do  not  believe  one  bit  in  evolution, 
in  the  modern  sense,  for  Lazarus  ;   but  I  do  believe  in  a 
tremendous  amount  of  evolution  for  that  stone.     Keep  it 
going  ;  keep  it  rolling.     This  gravestone  is  the  rolling-stone 
that  never  should  gather  any  moss.     Uncover  all  graves ; 


26  TAKE    YE    AWAY   THE    STONE. 

roll  away  all  obstructions.  It  is  homely  work ;  it  is  dirty 
work  ;  you  need  to  take  off  your  gloves,  and  strip  your  coat, 
and  look  as  if  you  meant  it.  This  was  a  great  big  slab  of 
stone,  that  would  take  three,  or  four,  or  five  men  to  lift. 
Nothing  fine  about  it,  or  dignified.  Nothing  grand  about 
it ;  and  yet,  when  you  put  Christ  in  the  background,  how 
grand  it  was  !  I  think,  if  ever  the  angels  had  to  be  held  in 
leash  by  the  Almighty,  it  was  when  Christ  spoke  in  that 
cemetery,  where  death  reigned,  mocking,  triumphant. 
Where  death  reigned,  and  men  and  women  groaned  and 
wept  in  hopeless  sorrow.  The  angels,  surely,  had  to  be 
held  in  leash ;  they  wanted  to  thunder  down  the  sky  to 
roll  away  that  stone.  Ah !  if  we  knew  the  power  that 
worketh  in  us,  and  the  power  that  worketh  for  us,  there 
would  be  less  talking  and  more  working,  and  things  that 
seem  to  be,  from  the  point  of  unbelief  and  panic-stricken- 
ness,  almost  too  big  to  attempt,  would  be  seen  to  be  natural 
and  obvious. 

Aye,  the  stone  of  strong  drink,  my  friend,  let  me  come 
back  to  that.  Have  you  taken  away  that  stumbling-block? 
Your  brother  is  lying  behind  it,  dead,  hastening  to  corrup- 
tion. Or  are  ye  sitting  on  the  stone ;  that  is  to  say,  adding 
to  its  weight  the  weight  of  your  own  moderate  drinking. 
Take  it  away.  Come  off,  and  push!  Hear  the  old 
prophet,  '*  Cast  up,  cast  up  the  highway ;  gather  out  the 
stones."  And  again,  **  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord, 
make  His  path  straight." 

Another  point  is  this  :  Anybody  can  help.  Anybody  can 
help  to  take  away  the  stone.  I  am  so  thoroughly  sound  on 
this,  that  nobody  but  Christ  can  quicken  the  dead,  that  I 
will  let  anybody,  black  man  or  white  man.  Barbarian, 
Scythian,  bond  or  free,  take  a  shove  at  the  stone.     I  will 


TAKE    YE    AWAY   THE    STONE.  27 

not  ask  you  whether  you  are  Christian.  Are  you  going  to 
do  something  to  roll  back  the  dark  covering  from  the  pits 
of  evil,  personal,  social,  political  ?  I  do  not  read  that  it 
was  the  disciples  that  rolled  away  the  stone,  and  prepared 
the  way  of  the  Lord,  on  this  occasion.  Possibly,  some  of 
those  put  their  shoulders  to  it  who  afterwards  went  away 
and  told  the  Pharisees,  and  got  Christ  put  to  death ;  for 
this  was  the  stimulating  cause  of  Christ's  crucifixion — that 
He  did  this  miracle.  But  will  ye  help  ?  If  even  the  devil 
sent  you,  if  you  will  roll  the  stone,  tug  away.  We  will  not 
ask  questions,  and  be  dainty,  and  nice,  and  sectarian,  and 
denominational,  and  ask  you  for  your  evangelical  certificate. 
No  !  No  !  If  the  drink  trade — it's  a  big  '*  if  "  ;  a  mere  sup- 
position, for  the  purpose  of  illustration,  for  if  it  were  done 
then  Satan's  kingdom  would  be  divided  against  itself,  and 
all  of  us  might  shout  **  Hallelujah  " — If  the  drink  trade 
came  forward,  as  a  trade,  and  said,  **  At  last  we  have  found 
grace  about  this  business.  We  have  come  to  see  that  our 
trade  has  more  to  do  with  these  graves,  with  this  death, 
than  any  other  trade.  We  will  advance  the  immediate 
hundred  thousand  pounds."  Well,  take  it.  I/"  they  would 
doit!  But,  again  I  say,  it's  a  big  ''if."  I  am  sorry  it 
is  only  likely  to  be  a  mere  illustration. 

I  trust  I  have  emphatically  said  that  I  want  General 
Booth's  scheme  to  go  on.  Because  it  will  be  a  success  ? 
No.  Because  it  will  fail  ?  Yes  ;  partially  fail.  And  what 
will  make  it  fail  ?  The  damned  drink  traffic.  And 
then — then  when  Mr.  Bancroft  (and  God  bless  him  too) 
sees  he  has  paid  a  thousand  pounds  for  nothing,  or  for 
next  to  nothing,  and  many  another  like  him,  then 
eyes,  other  than  mine,  or  those  of  the  ordinary  fanatical 
teetotaler,   will  look  at  this   drink  traffic.      Bought   wit 


28  TAKE   YE    AWAY   THE    STONE. 

is  the  best ;  and  when  men  pay  and  don't  see  results,  and 
don't  see  society  regenerated,  and  find  that  General 
Booth  has  no  magic  wand  to  wave,  saying  to  death 
and  hell,  **  Hey,  presto  !  pass!  " — then  common  sense  will 
come  like  a  mighty  revival,  and  we'll  grip  these  drinking 
laws,  and  we'll  have  peohibition.  And  then  we  shall  get 
on. 

But  this  is  in  the  right  track.  Let  us  go  on.  "  All 
hands  on  deck,  and  the  cook  to  the  galley."  Let  us  all  be 
up  and  at  it,  and  always  at  it.  I  could  tell  a  "  Tale  of  Two 
Cities  " — of  the  slums  of  Glasgow  and  of  Edinburgh ;  and  a 
Scotch  slum  is  a  slum — Corruptio  optimi pessima  est,  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  best  is  the  worst.  Who  among  us  standing 
in  these  abodes  of  death  preaching,  crying  in  God's  name, 
**  Lazarus  come  forth,"  has  not,  if  I  may  put  it  so,  had  his 
hair  stand  on  end  ?  For  the  poor  soul  on  the  other  side  hears 
the  Divine  voice  ;  there  is  a  moving  and  shuffling,  a  m-m-m- 
muttering  in  the  caves  of  death,  but  the  stone  remains 
unlifted.  Lazarus  wants  out,  God  pity  him,  and  can't  get. 
Our  converts,  that  is  to  say,  for  ever  jammed  in.  These 
roaring,  damning  public-houses  never  taken  away.  See 
them  there,  in  the  East  End,  these  Batteries  of  Hell,  how 
they  rake  the  streets  from  end  to  end.  I  have  lost  none  of 
my  faith  in  the  Gospel ;  it  shows  its  power  even  in  the 
vilest  slum,  making  men  and  women  want  to  be  saved, 
want  to  be  new,  want  to  be  clean.  In  the  darkness  on  the 
other  side  of  the  stone  you  can  hear  the  dead  beginning  to 
move,  as  if  saying  to  Christ,  "  I  am  coming.  Lord,  I  am 
coming ;  but  I  can't  get  out."  As  a  poor  fellow  said  to  me, 
"  I — I — I  can  pass  thirteen  public-houses,  but  I  can't  pass 
fourteen."  Take  away  the  stone !  Take  aivay  the  stone  / 
Take  away  the  stone  !  Turn  every  one  of  these  dram  shops 
in  the  slums  into  one  of  McCall's  Preaching  Halls,  as  in 
Paris,  and  you  may  not  need  this  million-pounded  scheme. 
Just  take  every  public-house  in  the  East  End,  and  let  the 
Salvation  Army  into  them,  with  their  Blood-and-Fire  and 


TAKE    YE   AWAY   THE    STONE.  29 

Penitent  Forms,  and  the  warm  hand-shake  of  their  saved 
men  and  women — as  I  have  seen  myself,  the  saved  sister 
weeping  with  and  kissing  the  unsaved  sister.  Let  them 
into  all  these  public-houses  with  their  prayer  and  preach- 
ing, and  you  will  see  what  we  all  want  to  see. 

Then,  lastly,  I  would  like  to  notice  how  much  and  yet 
how  little !  There  is  a  stone  to  be  rolled  away,  and  four 
or  five  come  to  it,  and  with  rugging  and  tugging,  and 
panting  and  hauling,  they  get  it  away.  As  I  said  before,  I 
don't  care  whether  they  are  believers  or  atheists  ;  we  will 
not  ask  questions  too  minutely.  They  rolled  it  away,  and 
then  how  much  was  done  ?  How  much  farther  forward  are 
ye  ?  Don't  you  see  what  a  pity  it  is  to  boggle  and  stumble 
at  this  taking  away  the  stone,  engaging  in  all  manner  of 
amehorative  acts,  all  manner  of  ameliorative  legislation? 
See  what  there  is  still  to  do.  Until  Christ  speaks,  nothing 
is  done.  How  much  and  yet  how  little  !  After  ye  have 
done  all  these  things,  when  ye  have  gone  to  ParUament, 
when  ye  have  gone  to  the  County  Council,  when  ye  have 
put  in  all  manner  of  better  drainage,  and  better  houses 
for  the  poor ;  when  ye  have  found  work  for  the  unemployed, 
when  you  have  put  the  wretched  vermin-covered  "  dossers  " 
into  a  clean  skin,  and  a  clean  shirt  on  top  of  it ;  when  you 
have  given  them  an  honest  day's  work,  and  an  honest  day's 
wage — and  I  grant  that  that  is  something — after  all  that  is 
done,  the  big  work  is  still  to  do.  Christ  has  still  a  dead 
lift  to  make.  He  has  still  to  say,  **  Lazarus,  come  forth." 
And  he  will.  There  is  no  doubt  about  him,  he  will.  But 
how  all  mere  humanitarian  gospels  are  shown  up  here ! 
They  go  so  far.  Yes,  open  Toynbee  Halls  at  every  corner, 
do  everything  you  can  do,  and  you  have  only  rolled  away 
the  stone.  Do  not  be  afraid  of  robbing  Christ  of  any  of 
His  glory.  There  is  plenty  of  room  still  for  Him.  And 
therefore  I  would  say,  let  all  work  of  the  ameliorative  kind 
be  carried  on  under  the  banner  of  the  Cross,  and  under 
the  auspices   and  blessing  of   Christ's  Church   on   earth. 


30  TAKE   YE   AWAY   THE    STONE. 

It  is  a  desideratum,  and  I  earnestly  long  for  it ;  at  the 
same  time,  I  hold  to  what  I  said,  and  let  anything  with  a 
face  of  clay  take  a  push  at  the  stone.  I  will  not  be  nice 
there,  but  when  the  grave  is  unsealed,  then  let  any  man 
dare  to  take  the  place  of  Christ,  and  I  am  ready  for  him. 
Let  anything  under  the  sun  say  that  it  can  do  without  the 
sheer,  tremendous,  stupendous  power  of  the  incarnate  Son 
of  God  in  the  Gospel,  and  there  is  no  more  collaboration  ; 
then  I  will  part  company  with  my  nearest  and  dearest ;  we 
shall  have  no  friendship  after  that.  This  is  an  honour 
Christ  will  never  give  to  any  other.  It  is  His  own  grand 
prerogative  to  quicken  the  dead,  to  unstop  deaf  ears,  to  call 
things  that  are  not  as  though  they  were,  and  to  bring 
dead  souls  to  newness  of  life. 

So,  you  see,  it  comes  to  this :  All  this  we  are  talking  about 
is  on  the  right  line ;  but  we  are  simply  preparing  the  way 
of  the  Lord.  Christ  is  waiting  for  us,  not  we  for  Him. 
For  long  and  many  a  day  He  has  waited,  waited,  waited, 
saying,  "  My  people  must  love  to  have  it  so.  My  people 
must  be  quite  happy  and  content  to  have  rack-rents,  and 
oppression,  and  miserable  dwellings  that  are  only  fit  to  be 
knocked  down,  a  public-house  at  every  corner,  the  '  social 
evil,'  *  the  drunkard's  ragged  wean,'  the  commercial  im- 
morality —  My  people  must  be  content  to  have  it  so. 
They  have  made  a  covenant  with  death,  and  with  hell  are 
they  at  agreement !  "  For  if  they  were  discontented,  then 
they  would  come  to  Me  and  say,  '  Lord,  here  is  the  place 
where  Lazarus  lies,'  and  I  would  have  said,  '  Koll  away 
the  stone,'  and  have  fetched  him  out."  Make  way  for  the 
Lord.  No  half  work,  no  dressing  better  of  corpses,  or 
decking  of  graves ;  but  spiritual  life,  and  more  abundant 
life  !  That  is  a  good  motto  for  us  that  the  old  chieftain 
gave  in  the  story  of  long  ago.  A  mighty  warrior 
battled  with  the  foe ;  he  was  mortally  wounded,  and  felt 
that  he  was  dying.  But  he  would  not  die  alone.  He  had 
the  notion  that  they  had  in  olden  times  of  going  down  into 


TAKE   YE   AWAY   THE    STONE.  31 

the  other  world,  and  he  said  to  his  armour-bearer,  **  Kill 
yourself,  I  am  dying.  Fall  upon  your  sword,  that  ye  may 
precede  me  into  the  shades,  and  tell  the  dead  I  am 
coming."  That  is  all  we  have  got  to  do.  "  Go,  tell  the 
dead  I  come."  Make  way  for  Christ.  Prepare  His  path 
right  into  the  halls  of  death. 

My  very  last  word  is  this :  Do  not  expect  too  much. 
What  happened  ?  "Jesus  cried  in  a  loud  voice,  Lazarus, 
come  forth.  And  he  that  was  dead  came  forth,  bound  hand 
and  foot,  and  in  grave-clothes  :  and  his  face  bound  about 
with  a  napkin  ;  and  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Loose  him,  and 
let  him  go."  Many  of  the  Jews  believed,  and  as  many  more 
were  hardened  in  their  unbehef .  This  is  not  the  final  stage. 
Do  all  you  can,  do  the  utmost  you  can  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
and  for  His  glory,  and  then  keep  your  head  level.  Do  not  be 
disappointed.  What  came  out?  **  A  man  bound  hand  and 
foot  in  grave-clothes " — not  a  seraph ;  not  a  heavenly 
spirit ;  nothing  bright  or  shining  about  him.  **  A  man 
bound  in  grave-clothes."  Do  not  expect  too  much,  I  say ; 
this  is  not  the  end.  It  is  a  grand  start,  that  is  all.  It  is 
working  for  more  than  you  thought.  Do  not  forget ;  do 
not  misunderstand  the  situation.  Christ  is  here  for  a 
double  purpose — a  Saviour  of  life  unto  life,  and  a  Saviour 
of  death  unto  death. 

Kaised  Lazarus — did  that  bring  in  Christ's  kingdom  ? 
Such  a  stupendous  work  as  that,  did  that  make  all 'men  fall 
down  before  Christ  and  say,  "  We  were  all  wrong  ;  behold 
our  King  !  "  No.  And  will  this  scheme  finish  the  busi- 
ness ?  No,  it  won't.  High  priests — high  priests  of  ecclesi- 
asticism,  and  science,  and  philosophy — your  high  priests, 
your  Huxleys,  and  Tyndalls,  and  Spencers,  will  remain 
where  they  were  ;  only  very  likely  a  Httle  more  determined 
against  the  Christ  of  God  than  they  were  before.  Some 
went  their  way  and  told  it  to  the  priests,  and  they  said, 
**  This  man  must  be  blotted  out." 

Now,  do  not  expect  too  much.      Know  the  world  in 


32  TAKE    YE    AWAY   THE    STONE. 

which  you  are  living  ;  know  also  the  tremendous  opposition 
of  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world,  the  leaders  of 
spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places.  This  is  but  a  stage, 
by  the  way.  Lazarus  was  quickened  for  a  few  days  longer  ; 
for  a  few  years  longer  he  lived,  we  trust,  a  quiet,  holy, 
useful  life — then  back  to  his  sleep,  where  he  has  laid  for 
all  the  ages  since. 

0  God,  I  thank  Thee  this  is  not  the  end  !  Thou  dost 
not  ask  me  to  do  everything,  and  to  finish  things.  Thou 
dost  only  ask  me  to  roll  away  the  stone  and  stand  out  of  Thy 
gate  ;  if  I  cannot  help  Thee,  not  to  hinder  Thee,  not  to  be 
in  the  way.  "  Stand  out  of  my  sunshine,"  said  Diogenes, 
when  they  came  to  him  in  the  tub ;  and  Christ  may  well 
say  to  many  of  us,  "  Stand  out  of  My  light ;  stand  out  of 
My  way." 

As  Thomas  Guthrie  says,  "Who  springs  into  the  new 
life  that  the  Gospel  brings,  who  springs  into  it  a  complete, 
a  finished  Christian  ?  "  This  is  not  the  end.  Not  till  the 
Bounding  of  the  last  trump,  and  the  voice  that  wakes  the 
dead,  and  the  coming  in  of  the  new  heavens  and  the  new 
earth,  will  the  work  be  finished.  Are  you  working  for 
that? 

"  The  whole  creation  groans, 

And  waits  to  hear  that  voice 
That  shall  restore  her  comeliness, 

And  make  her  wastes  rejoice. 

*'  Come,  Lord,  and  wipe  away 
The  curse,  the  sin,  the  stain, 
And  make  this  blighted  world  of  ours 
Thine  own  fair  world  again. 

Come  then,  Lord  Jesus,  come." 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  W. 


Regent  §qmu  f  itlpit, 


THE  PROPHET'S  MANTLE. 


% 


^txmavi 


Preached  at  Eegent  Squake  PRESBYTERiAy 
Church,  London, 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL 


Text  :— 2  Kings  iii.  4-24. 

A  FEW  words  as  the  Lord  may  help  us,  to  get  some  practi- 
cal help  out  of  this  old-world  story.  The  kings  of  Israel 
gathered  together  against  Moab ;  an  old,  common,  familiar, 
historical  setting — Israel  fighting  against  somebody,  and 
Israel,  as  is  usually  the  case,  finding  out  that  her  strength 
lay,  not  in  numbers,  not  in  kings,  or  in  captains,  or  in  stub- 
born, stalwart,  individual  soldiers,  but  that  her  strength  lay 
in  the  direction  in  which  she  was  always  prone  to  forget 
that  it  lay — that  her  strength  lay  in  God  and  in  spiritual 
directions,  not  in  earthly,  and  carnal,  and  political,  and 
military  quarters.  The  Lord  manifestly,  almost  sarcasti- 
cally, leads  them  into  this  predicament.  First  of  all,  they 
join  themselves  together.  They  are  going  to  make  a  tre- 
mendous onset  upon  Moab.  They  are  going  to  "  smash  the 
Mahdi,"  to  use  a  phrase  that  was  familiar  with  us  not  so 
very  long  ago.  They  were  going  to  gather  together,  and 
Vol.  III.— No.  3, 


34  THE  prophet's  mantle. 

just  pulverize  this  rebellious  Moab  once  for  all.  So  the  one 
king  sent  to  the  other.  King  Jehoram  sent  to  King  Jehosha- 
phat,  and  they  gathered  together,  and  he  said,  **  I  am  as 
thou  art,  my  people  as  thy  people,  and  my  horses  as  thy 
horses."  Out  of  that,  then,  comes  a  word  of  personal 
remark  and  profit  about  what  is  greatly  talked  about  to-day, 
namely,  that  we  Christians  are  so  much  divided.  We 
divide  into  Israel  and  into  Judah,  and  Israel  and  Judah 
again  are  greatly  subdivided  ;  and  many  who  look  at  the 
problem,  many  who  look  at  the  strength  of  Moab,  and  the 
trouble  that  Moab  brings,  namely,  the  powers  of  evil  of 
every  form,  say,  **  Now  Moab  is  united.  Moab  knows  his 
strength.  Moab  knows  what  he  would  be  at.  But  we 
Christians  are  too  much  subdivided,  and  it  would  be  half 
the  battle,  and  more  than  half  the  battle  for  Israel  and 
Judah,  if  all  the  disjecta  membra  and  all  the  scattered 
forces  would  deploy  upon  the  plain  and  mass  themselves 
together.  The  very  sight  of  our  strength,  and  of  our  great- 
ness, and  our  union,  and  our  solidity  would  take  the 
heart  out  of  the  enemy."  Well,  there  is  something  in  it, 
but  there  is  not  nearly  so  much  in  it  as  we  are  trying  to 
make  out.  Israel  and  Judah  did  join  together,  they  did 
forget  their  differences,  but  it  was  a  kind  of  sham  forget- 
ting. 

I  can  imagine  that  all  the  different  sects  might  join 
together :  the  Wesleyans — Primitive,  and  Wesleyan,  and 
New  Connexion  (I  barely  know  the  names  of  them) — and 
the  Presbyterians,  and  even  the  Episcopalians  might  come, 
those  royal  Christians  with  the  great  long  pedigree,  and  the 
Congregationalists  ;  and  we  might  all  stand  together,  and 
look  into  each  other's  eyes,  and  lift  up  great  shouts,  "  We 
will  demolish  Moab ;  "  and  it  would  not  demolish  Moab, 


THE    PBOPHET's    MANTLE.  35 

and  it  would  not  deceive  either  God  or  man.     We  should 
only  be  deceiving  ourselves.      Here  is  a  union,  and  a  grand- 
looking  union,  and  yet  it  is  easy  to   see  when  you  bring 
these  two  together,  Israel  and  Judah,  that  they  are  not  fused 
together.      They  are  lying  together  like  two  stones,  and 
just  as  they  can  lie  together,  so  they  can  fall  away.     They 
were  not  worked  into  each  other ;    they  were  not  fused  into 
a  true  spiritual  union.      It  was  only  a  bit  of  policy  and 
diplomacy.     The  one  king  called  upon  the  other,  and  the 
one  said,  "  Oh,  yes;  "  and  the  other  said,  "  My  people  are 
as  thy  people,  and  my  horses  as  thy  horses.     We  are  one." 
And  it  was  not  true,  it  was  not  real ;  from  which  I  say,  do 
not  let  us  hanker  so  much  after  this  all-embracing  union  if 
it  is  only  a  sham,  if  it  is  only  the  passing  of  resolutions,  for  it 
is  so  easy  to  do  things  in  word,  and  in  committee,  and  in 
conference,  and  on  paper,  while  at  heart  we  are  as  much 
back  to  back  as  ever  we  were,   and   as  little  really  knit 
together  face  to  face,  eye  to  eye,  soul  to  soul,  hand  to  hand. 
It  was  no  real  union,  and  that  fact  came  out  by-and-bye.     It 
came  out  when  the  Lord  allowed  them,  with  all  their  seem- 
ing union,  and  all  their  seeming  grandeur  and  bravery,  to  go 
away  on  their  own  course,  led  by  policy,  and  led  by  smiles,  and 
led  by  falsity  into  this  dilemma — man  and   beast   nearly 
choking  for  water ;  and,  if  Moab  had  only  known,  Moab 
could  have  come  down  and  smitten  them  to  nothing.     Do 
not  let  us  be  too  hasty,  then,  to  make  unions,  or  to  seek  for 
our  great  deliverance  along  that  line,  for  the  end  of  all  the 
bravery  of  the  business  was  this — "Alas!  alas!  the  Lord 
hath  called  these  three  kings  together,  to  deliver  them  into 
the    hand   of   Moab."     All   Christianity   within    England 
might   give   up    denominational   divisions,   and    the  devil 
have  it  his   own  way  the  same  as   ever.     We   might  all 


36  TnE  peophet's  mantle. 

unite,  and  go  under  the  one  name,  and  go  under  the  one 
Hag,  and  the  devil  still  be  the  strong  rampant  devil  that  he 
is.  It  might  even  be  worse.  Bad  as  things  are,  they  might 
be  worse  through  a  general  union,  instead  of  better.  This 
evidently  at  this  stage  was  no  solution  of  the  problem.  It 
was  no  relief  at  all. 

"  But  Jehoshaphat  said,  Is  there  not  here  a  prophet  of 
the  Lord,  that  we  may  inquire  of  the  Lord?"  Ah!  now 
they  are  coming  to  their  senses.  Policy  and  craft  have  had 
their  turn,  and  much  they  have  made  of  it.  You  will  come 
to  me,  and  we  will  forget  all  om*  differences,  and  we  will 
smile  at  each  other.  Although  the  old  war  is  in  the  heart, 
we  will  smile  at  each  other ;  and  we  will  go,  and  we  will 
contrive  great  contrivances  ;  and  by  means  of  these  we  will 
bring  in  the  kingdom,  and  attack  the  enemy  in  flank  and 
rear.  No,  no,  no  !  we  will  not !  The  great  vice  of  this 
confederation  was  that  it  was  too  cheap,  and  slim,  and  easy. 
It  was  a  mere  working  of  cards  and  tricks.  God  was  for- 
gotten, and  sooner  or  later  we  will  find  out  that,  with  all 
our  adroitness,  and  our  cleverness,  and  our  leaders,  and  our 
policies,  and  our  conferrings,  if  we  are  leaving  Him  out,  we 
are  preparing  ourselves  for  a  wretched  exposure.  So  did 
these.  It  was  only  poUcy;  it  was  only  craft.  All  this 
union  was  just  an  elaborate  make-believe  that  they  were 
united,  and  it  tumbles  to  pieces  like  a  house  of  cards.  God 
puffed  at  it  and  it  disappeared. 

"  Is  there  not  here  a  prophet  of  the  Lord?  "  There  is  a 
sarcasm  in  the  situation  that,  after  all  the  sounding  of 
trumpets,  and  flying  of  banners,  and  grand  plans  and 
arrangements  for  circumventing  Moab,  they  themselves  are 
nearly  stuck,  and  then  comes  the  whine,  "Where  is  God? 
Oh,  now  that  I  have  come  to  man,  I  have  forgotten  God." 


THE    prophet's    MANTLE.  87 

Now,  you  have,  my  friend — poor  stupid  fool,  you  I  It  is  your 
big  mistake.     You  have  forgotten  God.      You  have  got  the 
king,  and  you  have  got  the  captain,  and  you  have  got  the 
soldier,  and  you  have  got  the  trumpet,  and  you  have  got  the 
drum  ;  and  you  have  forgotten  God,  and  the  Word  of  God, 
and  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  is  the  very  sword  in  our  arm 
for  all  fighting,  and  the  hope  of  all  success  against  Moab. 
Ah  !  have  you  forgotten  Him.       One  is  apt  to  rub  his  eyes 
and   say,    "Is   it   possible,   now,  that   Israel  could   forget 
God?"     Possible?      It  is   almost  the  rarest  thing  when 
Israel  remembers  God,  although  His  name  is  woven  into 
her  own.     How  many  of  us  last  v^eek  went  down  there  into 
the  City  to  cut,  and  carve,  and  contrive,  and  do  it  that  week 
as  we  never  did  it  before  ?     And  have  you  done  it  ?   You  are 
just  back  in  the  old  muddle  where  you  were.     You  have  not 
made  an  inch  of  it.     You  are  perhaps  deeper  in  the  mud 
than  you  were  in  the  mire,  for  you  have  forgotten  God. 
You  need  God  down  town  as  much  as  I  need  Him  up  here. 
We  need  Him  everywhere  :  and  that  scheme,  that  plan  of  a 
man  or  of  all  Israel,  that  is  conceived  and  carried  out  with- 
out Him  comes  to  that  pitiful  bleat,  "  We  are  altogether 
wrong.     We  leapt  without  looking.    We  started  without  due 
consideration.     Is  there  not  here  a  prophet  of  the  Lord, 
that     we     may    inquire     of     the    Lord    by    him?      And 
Jehoshaphat  said,  Elisha.     The  word  of  the  Lord  is  with 
him.     So  the  King  of  Israel  and  Jehoshaphat  and  the  King 
of  Edom  went  down  to  him."     '*  Not  by  might,  not   by 
power  ;  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord."     We  do  not 
despise  men  and  measures ;  but  neither  let  us  idolize  men, 
and  measures,  and  resolutions,  and  conferences,  and  plans. 
Thei3  is  Israel's  highest  wisdom.     It  is  found  when  any  one 
individual  of  us,  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  or  all  of  us 


38  THE   PI10PHET*S   MANTLE 

together,  go  down  upon  our  knees  to  ask  God  to  ease  us  of 
our  adversary  and  bring  us  out  of  our  sweltering  problem. 

The  Spirit  of  God !  What  a  lesson  to  individuals,  and  to 
congregations,  and  to  the  whole  Church.  My  friend,  you 
and  I  perhaps,  and  our  congregation,  and  our  denomination, 
and  Christ's  cause  as  given  to  our  hands,  have  come  to  a 
collapse;  nothing  doing;  our  own  souls,  perhaps,  coming 
to  this  deadlock.  No  progress,  no  victory,  no  forwardness, 
no  deliverance.  What  is  wrong?  The  bottom  of  all  the 
mischief  lies  here :  "  Nevertheless  " — as  David  put  it  in  the 
Psalm  more  than  once — "Nevertheless  they  forgot  God.* 
Have  you  been  praying  last  week  ?  If  you  have  not,  I  do 
not  care  what  may  have  seemed  to  be  your  successes  last 
week,  but  you  will  take  your  own  hand,  and  with  your  own 
hand  you  will  write  down,  "  Write  me  down  an  ass  in  the 
day,  the  hour,  the  week,  or  the  year,  that  I  lived,  and 
plodded,  and  planned  without  God,  and  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  the  Word  of  God."  There  it  is,  God  put  the  ass's  head 
on  the  whole  concern,  and  laughed  at  it  contemptuously. 

Come  back  now.  Give  up  your  own  wisdom.  Let  us 
give  up  our  own  strength.  Where  is  the  scribe?  Where  is 
the  wise  man.  Where  is  there  any  man  or  mortal  to  help 
us  in  an  hour  like  this  ?  It  is  not  in  us,  and  yet  we  are  not 
at  our  wits'  end.  The  best  and  the  greatest  of  all  help  ia 
here  if  we  would  only  humble  ourselves,  and  admit  our 
folly,  and  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord.     Elisha  felt  it. 

There  is  a  human  thing  in  what  Elisha  said,  and  there 
is  a  Divine  element  too.  Listen  to  what  he  said. 
Ehsha  is  not  a  weakling ;  and  when  you  go  to  him,  and 
fall  down  before  him,  and  ask  him  to  come  in  and  help 
you,  Elisha  is  not  a  man  who  is  so  pleased  to  see  you 
come  that  he  will  be  kind  and  soft,  and  forget  all  the  slight 


THE    PROPHET  S    MANTLE.  39 

that  was  placed  upon  him  when  this  campaign  was 
inaugurated,  and  when  he  was  so  markedly  left  out. 
Nay,  nay ;  there  is  a  grand  human  touch  in  all  these  old 
prophets.  They  were  rugged  old  fellows  who  could  not 
be  gammoned,  not  one  of  them.  "  And  Elisha  said,  "What 
have  I  to  do  with  thee  ?  You  come  whining  and  crying  to 
me  after  your  own  wisdom  has  landed  you  in  the  dirt. 
Then  you  'come  to  me.  What  have  I  to  do  with  thee? 
Go  back  to  the  prophets  of  your  father,  and  the  prophets 
of  your  mother."  That  is  how  to  talk  to  a  king.  That 
was  rather  a  bitter  blast  that  rustled  in  his  ears.  I 
wonder  where  the  old  voice  is,  and  why  has  it  vanished 
from  God's  prophets  to-day?  Elisha  saw  through  this 
business  as  clearly  as  daylight.  He  saw  through  it  all; 
He  could  not  be  deceived  ;  he  could  not  be  beguiled ;  and 
in  God's  name,  and  in  God's  own  honesty  and  success, 
that  is  what  he  said.  The  King  of  Israel  said,  "  Nay  ;  the 
Lord  hath  called  these  three  kings  together  to  deliver  them 
into  the  hand  of  Moab.  And  Elisha  said,  As  the  Lord  of 
hosts  liveth,  before  whom  I  stand  "  —  he  got  that  from 
Elijah  —  "As  the  Lord  of  hosts  liveth,  before  whom 
I  stand,  were  it  not  that  I  do  regard  the  presence 
of  Jehoshaphat — a  truly  spiritual  man,  though  a  poor 
man,  he  has  become  a  nose  of  wax  in  your  hands — 
were  it  not  that  I  do  regard  the  presence  of  Jehoshaphat 
the  King  of  Judah,  I  would  not  look  toward  thee,  nor  see 
thee.  But  now  bring  me  a  minstrel."  And  under  the 
bewitching  influence  of  the  ravishing  spell,  the  anger  and 
the  irritation  die  out  of  him.  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came 
upon  him,  and  by  the  word  of  God's  mouth  he  led  them 
out  of  their  trouble  and  into  great  success.  Hark  you, 
friend.     We  are  ever  apt  to  torget  that  that  same  element 


40  THE   prophet's   MANTLE. 

that  was  in  Elisha — that  same  element,  but  without  sin — is 
in  the  heavenly  Elisha,  in  Him  whom  this  Old  Testament 
ambassador,  and  repository,  and  channel  of  spiritual  power 
represents.  Do  not  let  us  forget  it.  It  is  in  Him ;  and  if 
we  offend  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  our  pride,  or  by  our 
self-sufficiency  as  individuals,  as  congregations,  or  as 
Christian  denominations,  we  shall  not  get  Him^back  until 
we  go  back  to  Him  and  confess  our  fault — ana  it  is  deep, 
deep,  in  us  all.  I  always  remember  what  an  old  Aberdeen- 
shire minister  said  to  a  young  minister  about  the  Holy 
Spirit.  A  young,  well-furnished  minister  was  beginning 
his  ministry,  and  an  old  minister,  who  was  just  done  in  his 
ministry,  warned  him,  and  said,  "Tak  tent"  (take  care) 
"that  ye  baud  in" — that  is  Scotch  for  "hold  in,"  and  he 
used  very  familiar  language,  but  I  believe  that  God  will 
allow  it — "  Tak  tent  that  ye  baud  in  with  your  auld  Frien', 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  for,  gin  ye  grieve  Him,  ye  will  no  get 
Him  back  so  easy."  O  kings  of  Israel  and  of  Judah, 
tak  tent  that  you  baud  in  with  your  auld  Frien',  God 
Almighty;  for,  gin  ye  grieve  Him,  ye  will  not  get  Him  back 
so  easy.  And  God  can  be  grieved,  and  bitterly  grieved,  so 
much  so  that  He  is  tempted  to  withhold  from  us  the  light 
of  His  face  altogether,  and  let  trouble,  and  trials,  and  defeats 
so  thicken  upon  us  that  we  are  a  kind  of  laughing-stock  to 
the  devil.  Israel  without  God  is  the  weakest  institution 
among  men.  Israel  with  God  is  the  grandest  institution 
that  ever  was  known  and  ever  will  be. 

So  let  us  come  back  thankful  for  this — that  our  great 
High  Priest,  our  Prophet,  our  King,  is  everything  to  us. 
The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  still  with  us;  and  although  He  be 
angry  with  us,  and  charge  us  with  our  folly  to  our  faces.  He 
will  turn  again  and  will  have  compassion ;  He  will  cast  our 


THE    PROPUEt's    MANTLE.  4l 

iniquities  into  the  depths  of  the  sea.  He  will  return  to  His 
people;  He  will  revive  us  again;  and  through  us  He  will 
again  break  Rahab  in  pieces.  Ay,  but  only  as  He  has  said 
in  the  Old  Testament  more  than  once,  "  Not  for  your  sakes 
do  I  this,  but  for  Mine  own  name's  sake."  I  believe  that 
that  is  the  point  at  which  God  is  with  all  denominational 
Christianity  in  England  to-day.  There  is  simply  little  or 
nothing  in  us  to  recommend  us  to  Him.  Will  He  come 
back  to  us?  My  hope  is  that  He  will.  On  what  is  it 
grounded  ?  It  is  grounded  simply  and  only  on  this :  that 
He  is  God,  and  not  man,  and  that  He  has  taken  in  hand, 
through  this  weak  instrument,  His  Church  and  people,  to 
destroy  the  devil  and  to  bring  in  His  own  everlasting  King- 
dom ;  and  He  will  not  go  back.  Time  and  again  He  will 
return.  The  Lord's  glorious  voice  will  be  heard,  and  we 
shall  see  the  lighting  down  of  His  arm,  but  for  His  own 
name's  sake,  and  for  that  alone.  The  wonder  is  that  He 
does  not  sweep  us  off  into  our  graves,  and  bring  in  another 
generation  more  worthy  of  Him. 

And  what  was  the  plan?  "Make  this  valley  full  of 
ditches.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Ye  shall  not  see  wind, 
neither  shall  ye  see  rain  ;  yet  the  valley  shall  be  filled  with 
water,  and  ye  may  drink,  both  ye,  and  your  cattle,  and  your 
beasts.  And  this  is  but  a  light  thing  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord:  He  will  deliver  the  Moabites  also  into  your  hand." 
Now,  my  friends,  you  see,  better  than  I  can  bring  it  out,  the 
sharp,  the  almost  cruel  contrast  between  our  wisdom  and 
God's  wisdom.  Here  they  came  out  three  leagued  com- 
panies of  warriors,  and  a  short  time  after  they  had  come 
out  they  are  all  in  a  condition  of  panic  and  alarm.  Then 
God  comes  to  them,  and  what  do  we  find  this  great 
company   of  warriors    doing?      They    have   turned    their 


42  THE  prophet's  mantle. 

swords  into  spades,  and  every  one  is  digging  for  his 
life.  That  is  in  God  yet — that  way  of  just  turning  my 
wisdom  into  contempt,  and  making  me  do  the  thing 
that  I  did  not  dream  of  doing,  and  putting  me  upon 
this  at  any  rate,  "  Will  I  obey  God  or  not  ?  Will  I 
really  give  myself  up  into  His  hands,  and  fall  in  with  His 
plans,  and  His  way  of  doing  things  ?  Am  I  being  led  by 
God  Almighty,  or  am  I  being  led  by  policy,  and  carnal 
wisdom,  and  selfish  ambition?"  Look  at  these  words,  and 
what  was  done  with  them.  These  soldiers  were  most  of 
them  Israelites.  I  can  imagine  them  saying,  "  Well, 
things  are  come  to  a  bad  pass,  and  some  one  has  blun- 
dered "  (as  our  poet  has  it) — **  some  one  has  blundered,  and 
I  do  not  know  what  is  to  be  done ;  but  really,  I  draw  the 
line  at  beginning  to  dig,  which  is  just  a  little  infra  dig.  It 
is  just  a  little  below  the  mark  that  I,  a  soldier,  should 
begin  here  nawying  away  and  digging.  I  came  out  to 
fight,  to  be  grand  and  brave,  and  to  do  a  soldier's  work, 
and  here  I  am  with  a  mattock  and  shovel,  digging  as  if  it 
were  piecework,  to  turn  this  valley  into  so  many  ditches." 
What  is  translated  with  many  words  in  our  own  version  is 
in  the  Hebrew  simply  "  ditches,  ditches."  That  is  what 
Elisha  said.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Ditches,  ditches, 
ditches,  ditches.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Get  ready  for  Me, 
and  then  ye  will  be  ready  for  Moab."  That  is  the  wisdom 
of  it.  That  is  the  philosophy  of  it.  "  First,  ye  should 
have  asked  Me  at  the  beginning.  My  arm  can  reach  Moab 
anywhere,  and  ye  poor  fools  thought  that  ye  could  do  with- 
out it»  And  there  !  Now  I  will  give  you  the  victory,  but  I 
will  give  it  to  you  in  such  a  fashion  as  shall  pour  contempt 
on  your  leaguing,  and  your  confederating,  and  your  wisdom, 
and  your  way  of  doing  things.      Make  ditches.      Bend 


THE   prophet's   MANTLE.  43 

your  backs  and  dig.  Make  ditches,  ditches."  That  was  a 
downcome.  It  was.  But  we  all  need  it  for  all  our  troubles, 
and  for  all  our  trials.  Make  ready  for  the  blessing.  A 
whole  sermon  could  be  preached  on  that  one  outburst  of 
God's  mind  and  heart  through  Elisha's  mouth  :  "  Ditches, 
ditches."  Prepare  for  a  blessing.  You  are  always  right  to 
calculate  upon  that  when  you  come  back  and  put  yourself 
right  with  God.  Then  prepare  for  a  blessing.  At  home, 
yonder,  make  a  trench.  Prepare  at  home  for  a  home 
blessing.  Has  Moab  got  no  home  ?  Have  the  world,  and 
the  devil,  and  the  flesh  troubled  you  at  home  ?  Now,  give 
up  your  own  wisdom  at  home,  and  your  own  way  of 
fi.ghting,  and  go  away  and  lie  down  before  God,  and  confess 
your  home  sins ;  and  then  build  up  a  family  altar,  and 
pray  and  make  ready  at  home.  Make  ready,  make  a 
receptacle  at  home  for  God's  blessing  at  home;  and,  be 
sure  of  it,  it  will  not  stand  empty  long.  So  with  your 
Sabbath- school ;  with  your  Bible-class  ;  so  with  Holborn 
Hall ;  so  with  Regent  Square ;  so  with  all  our  work  every- 
where, and  all  over  the  land,  and  all  over  the  world. 
First  of  all,  back  to  God,  back  in  humility  and  contrition, 
and  with  a  good,  red,  blushing  face,  which  every  way 
becomes  us,  and  a  lowly  head.  Back  to  God.  Then  He 
comes  back  to  us.  Although  justly  in  His  anger  He  may 
turn  us  away,  yet  because  of  His  own  great  name,  and 
because  of  what  the  heathen  might  say,  He  comes  back, 
and  then  is  the  time  for  us  to  recover  our  mistake,  and  to 
listen  to  what  He  says.  Make  the  valley  full  of  ditches. 
God's  Church  to-day  in  the  land  looks  like  a  dry,  parched 
valley.  There  are  no  great  big  clouds  in  the  sky  that  one 
can  see. 

Never  mind.     Do  not  walk  by  the  sight  of  the  eye.     Do 


44  THE  pkophet's  mantle. 

not  walk  by  the  appearance  of  things.  Take  in  this  word : 
**  Make  this  valley  full  of  ditches.  Make  it  so  against  all 
appearances."  What  did  God  say  to  Elisha,  or  Elisha  say 
to  them?  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Ye  shall  not  see  wind, 
neither  shall  ye  see  rain;  yet  this  valley  shall  be  filled. 
And  this  is  but  a  light  thing  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.  He 
will  deliver  the  Moabites  also  into  your  hands." 

Now,  have  we  got  our  eyes  upon  this  Holy  God  to-day 
— God,  the  God  of  Israel  ?  How  it  would  strengthen  our 
hands  and  encourage  our  hearts !  How  these  that  have 
feeble  knees  would  be  invigorated !  How  these  that  have 
been  filled  with  a  false  strength  would  be  brought  to  their 
level  and  their  senses !  "  Not  by  might,  not  by  power ;  but 
by  My  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord."  "  I  will  give  you  no  sign. 
You  will  be  tested  right  down  to  the  ground  upon  this 
point.  Can  you,  will  you,  at  least  believe  Me  and  My  bare 
word  ?  Will  you  ?  You  will  not  see  wind,  and  you  will 
not  see  rain.  You  will  dig  these  trenches  in  a  choking 
drought,  with  the  dust  rising  like  to  choke  you,  and  for 
ever  inclined  to  lift  up  your  backs  and  say.  What  in  all 
the  world  is  the  use  of  all  this  digging  in  this  dry  land? 
Dig;  dig;  dig.  Obey.  Believe  Me.  Trust  Me  down  to 
the  ground  ;  to  the  last  syllable."  God  wants  to  pulverize 
out  of  us  the  trust  in  ourselves — to  take  the  courage  out  of 
us,  and  to  make  us  simple. 

I  can  scarcely  get  on  because  I  feel  so  the  application  of 
it  to  individual  men  as  well  as  to  the  whole  problem  of  the 
day.  My  friends,  there  are  some  of  us  sitting  here  who  to 
this  hour  have  never  learnt  this  lesson.  You  do  not  know 
God,  and  there  is  only  one  way  to  get  to  know  Him,  and  it 
is  along  the  path  of  obedience — along  the  path  of  bowing 
your  stiff  knees,  and  opening  your  lock-jawed  month,  and 


THE    prophet's    MANTLE.  45 

praying  out  of  your  heart,  and  giving  your  own  obedience. 
Now,  at  that  rate  of  it,  how  long  will  it  be  before  some  of 
us  get  the  signs  of  heavenly  blessing  and  heavenly  power  ? 
At  this  rate  of  it,  it  will  be  postponed  for  ever.  There  is  no 
making  of  the  trench,  and  until  that  is  done  there  will  be 
no  reception  of  the  blessing.  Make  ready  for  God.  If  you 
want  Him  to  come,  make  room  for  Him.  Make  ready. 
Make  a  clearance  for  Him.  Show  to  Him  that  you  are 
preparing  for  His  coming. 

I  like  that  word  in  the  18th  verse.  "  This  is  but  a  light 
thing :  He  will  deliver  the  Moabites  into  your  hands."  Oh 
sorely  troubled  child  of  God,  with  all  the  trouble  in 
England  through  drink,  and  lust,  the  commercial  trouble, 
the  poverty  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  too  much  riches  on 
the  other,  face  to  face  with  that,  and  oh  Church  of  God ! 
face  to  face  with  the  dead,  hoary  systems  of  heathenism  in 
India,  and  in  China,  and  in  poor  dark  Africa,  it  is  but  a 
light  thing  in  the  eyes  of  God.  He  can  do  that,  so  to 
speak,  with  His  little  finger ;  but  the  big  thing  is  to  get 
us  down  upon  our  knees.  That  is  the  tremendous  difficulty 
even  to  Almighty  God.  When  that  is  done,  the  rest  comes 
in  course.  That  is  the  difficulty.  How  can  I  get  past  it  ? 
Down,  down,  down,  and  how  often  God's  people  have  seen 
that  everything  was  changed  when  prayer  began,  when  the 
ditch  was  opened,  when  the  channel  was  made.  Why, 
bless  His  name !  we  had  barely  dug  it  when  the  bubbling 
water  was  there,  and  we  were  refreshed.  Then  out  we 
went,  and  God's  cause  went  on  amain.  Yet  this  is  but 
a  light  thing.  He  will  deliver  the  Moabites  also  into  your 
hands. 

Our  time  is  gone;  but,  you  know,  it  was  actually  fulfilled. 
After    they   had  offered  the  .usual  sacrifices,  there    came 


46  THE  prophet's  mantle. 

water  in  an  unexpected  way,  by  the  way  of  Edom,  and  the 
country  was  filled  with  water.  Commentators  spend  a  good 
deal  of  time  trying  to  give  natural  explanations  for  the 
coming  of  this  water.  That  is  it.  Anything  but  just  simply 
resting  on  this,  "God  did  it,  and  God  sent  it."  Try  a 
long-winded  explanation  that  God  sent  an  unusual  freshet, 
and  the  snows  melted,  and  the  water  came.  God  sent  it. 
*'  You  will  not  see  wind  or  rain;  yet  this  valley  shall  be 
filled.  I  will  do  it."  And  He  did  it.  It  is  the  same  yet. 
Believe  in  Him.  Trust  in  Him.  When  I  stand  up  here  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  when  you  go  to  preach  the  Gospel,  is 
there  anything  that  is  more  needed?  "  Never  mind  signs. 
Never  mind  wonders.  Do  what  I  have  told  you  to  do,  and 
I — I  will  do^the  rest.  It  is  My  great  prerogative.  And  I 
will  give  it  to  no  other." 

But  it  is  worth  while  to  notice  the  great  mistake  that 
the  Moabites  made.  It  is  very  suggestive ;  and  although 
some  might  not  consider  it  as  fairly  coming  out  of  the 
passage,  I  cannot  help  seeing  it,  and  I  cannot  help  preaching 
it.  When  the  Moabites  rose  in  the  morning  they  saw  the 
sun  shining  upon  that  glistening  pool  of  water,  and  they 
said,  ''  Blood  !  blood !  this  is  blood.  The  kings  are  surely 
slain.  They  have  smitten  one  another.  Now,  therefore, 
Moab  to  the  spoil."  And  in  they  rush,  and  on  they  lash  as 
water  against  a  wall,  for  Israel  rose  and  scattered  them  like 
chaff  before  the  wind.  What  was  a  blessing  to  Israel  be- 
came a  stumbling-block  to  their  enemies.  It  was  refresh- 
ment that  God  had  sent  to  Israel,  and  Moab 
coming,  and  suddenly  looking  upon  it,  took  another 
meaning  out  of  it.  '*Ah!"  they  said,  ''this  is  blood. 
They  have  been  killing  each  other."  They  stumbled  at 
that  stumbling-stone.       What  God   had   sent,   and  what 


THE   prophet's   MANTLE.  47 

God  made  life  and  power  to  His  people,  these  Moabites 
took  a  wrong  meaning  out  of.  That  is  it  now.  God  is  the 
stumbling-block.  You  see  that,  first  of  all,  the  Israelites 
stumbled.  They  went  away  to  fight  without  Him.  They 
got  right,  and  God  came  back,  and  the  symbol  of  His 
pleasure  with  them  was  that  valley  glistening  with  water, 
and  man  and  beast  drinking  and  becoming  refreshed  and 
fit  for  whatever  was  before  them.  That,  again,  became 
a  stumbling-stone  to  Moab.  When  they  saw  the  sign 
of  God's  presence  they  said,  "This  is  blood.  They  are 
killing  each  other;"  and  on  they  came,  and  they  were 
sorry  for  it.  It  is  the  same  yet.  "  By  this  sign  we  shall 
conquer ;  "  and  by  this  sign  spiritual  foes  of  Christ  and  of 
Christ's  Kingdom  are  for  ever  being  overdrawn.  What  is 
our  great  strength  they  consider  to  be  our  weakness.  Let 
us  hold  to  our  strength.  Let  us  know  that  God  is  with 
us.  Let  us  know  and  understand  how  to  get  Him,  and, 
strong  in  His  strength,  let  us  rise  and  win  the  day  for 
God  and  for  His  Christ.  Oh,  what  a  battle  for  righteous- 
ness needs  to  be  fought  at  home  and  abroad !  What  a 
tyranny  we  are  under  to  the  powers  of  evil  as  individuals, 
and  congregations,  and  churches.  May  the  Lord  come 
to  us  to-day.  May  He  fill  our  hearts  with  heavenly 
refreshment.  May  He  take  away  our  weakness.  Some  of 
.us  are  parched,  barren,  and  dry.  How  can  we  fight? 
We  are  so  empty  and  so  useless;  but  let  God  fill  us, 
and  then  we  are  strong  in  Him.  They  said,  "  This  is 
blood."  Ay,  well,  they  were  nearer  the  truth  than  they 
thought.  It  is  blood.  The  great  strength  to  us,  and  the 
great  stumbling-block  by  which  the  devil  himself  will  be 
overthrown,  is  blood.  By  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  we  arc 
saved,  we  are  strengthened ;  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  we  arc 


48  THE  prophet's  mantle. 

misunderstood,  we  are  scoffed  at.  Moab  rises,  and  thinks 
that  this  blood,  this  gospel  of  ours  of  atonement  and  substi- 
tution, is  our  very  weakness,  and  that  by  means  of  it  she 
will  destroy  us,  and  she  encourages  herself  to  fall  upon  us. 
Let  her  fall !  Let  her  fall !  Come  on,  all  the  brood  of  hell ! 
Come  on,  and  you  will  find  that  what  you  think  is  our 
weakness  and  our  destruction  is  the  strength  of  our  arm  and 
the  very  banner  of  our  victory.  In  God's  great  name  let 
every  soul,  and  let  us  as  a  whole  people,  run  up  and  display 
that  banner.  By  it  we  are  saved.  By  it  Christ's  cause 
shall  conquer  to  the  very  end.    Amen  and  Amen, 


Hbndbrson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  I  ondon,  W, 


Jleg^nt  §quaa  ^ul^jit. 


"THE   LORD   SUSTAINED  MB. 


%  Btxmm 

Preached  at  Eegent  Square  Peesbyteeian  Chuech. 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


Text — 3rd  Psalm  :  "  Lord,  how  are  they  increased  that  trouble 
me  ! "  &c. 

We  -will  take  for  meditation  this  mornicg  the  3rd  Psahii — a 
Psalm  of  David  when  he  fled  from  Absalom,  his  son.  Found- 
ing upon  the  5th  verse,  "I  slept;  I  awaked,"  expositors 
have  agreed  to  call  this  a  morning  psalm,  even  as  from  the 
last  verse  of  the  next  Psalm,  "  I  will  both  lay  me  down  in 
peace  and  sleep,"  they  have  agreed  to  designate  it  an  even- 
ing hymn.  The  3rd  and  4th  Psalms  seem  to  form  a  pair  ; 
one  expressive  of  the  attitude  of  the  soul  towards  God,  no 
matter  what  the  circumstances,  simply  abiding  by  the  fact 
that  the  new  day  has  dawned,  and  has  brought  with  it  re- 
newed faith  in  God's  presence  and  protecting  care  ;  and  the 
4th,  after  a  somewhat  similar  fashion,  expresses  what 
should  be  the  attitude  of  our  souls  in  the  evening:  "  I  will 
both  lay  me  down  in  peace  and  sleep,"  for  the  evening 
crowns  the  day.     Thou,  Lord,  who  hast  been  with  me  all 

Vol.  III.— No.  4. 


60  "the  loed  sustained  me." 

through  the  active  hours,  Thou  only  makest  me  to  dwell  in 
safety. 

We  shall  meditate  now  upon  this  morning  psalm,  **  Lord, 
how  are  they  increased  that  trouble  me  !  "  If  the  Psalm 
really  refers — and  the  presumption  is  that  in  this  case  the 
title  is  true — if  it  really  refers  to  that  morning  when  David 
rose  to  find  his  kingdom  and  everything  in  wreck  and  ruin, 
then  how  fittingly  it  opens,  "  Lord,  how  are  they  increased 
that  trouble  me !  many  are  they  that  rise  up  against  me." 
He  has  no  room  to  give  the  details — his  heart  is  too  full. 
But,  ah  !  how  full  it  is  !  Thoughts  of  Absalom,  thoughts  of 
his  enemies,  who  have  now  got  a  good  chance  at  him; 
thoughts,  no  doubt,  of  those  brave  and  faithful  followers 
who  would  have  gone  with  him  had  he  not  bade  them  go 
back,  in  order  that  his  deliverance — if  deliverance  was  to 
come — should  come  purely  and  solely  from  God.  Madden- 
ing thoughts,  also,  of  treachery  and  faithlessness  on  the 
part  of  those  who  had  been  his  friends ;  perhaps  some 
strange  thoughts  of  those  200  bearded  simpletons  who,  as 
the  narrative  says,  went  with  his  enemy,  "and  knew  not 
anything."  All  these  thoughts  we  can  imagine  as  rushing 
with  the  sharp,  keen  morning  breeze  that  whistled  in  his 
ears,  and  made  him  shiver  to  the  very  marrow. 

"  Lord,  how  are  they  increased  that  trouble  me !  many 
are  they  that  rise  up  against  me."  Are  there  not  still  some 
souls  who  sometimes  come  through  a  morning  like  that  ? 
As  the  days  and  years  increase  upon  you,  my  Christian 
friends,  your  skies  are  not  brighter,  and  your  path  is  not 
lighter.  You  are  going  through,  in  your  own  measure,  the 
experience  of  this  much-tried  man  who  wrote  the  Psalms. 
Increase  of  years  means  for  you,  humanly  speaking,  increase 
of  trouble,  increase  of  sorrow. 


"  THE    LORD    SUSTAINED    ME."  51 

"  Though  trouble  springs  not  from  the  dust, 
Nor  sorrow  from  the  ground, 
Yet  ills  on  ills  by  Heaven's  decree 
In  yoicr  estate  are  found." 

Long  ago  you  looked  forward  to  the  age  to  which  you 
now  have  come,  and  you  said,  "  Ah !  then,  then  my  battle's 
by  (past).  Then  I'll  have  fought  and  won ;  then  I'll  have 
reached  my  kingdom."  Like  a  poor  field  labourer  who 
used  to  say,  to  cheer  him  in  present  toil  and  poverty,  "  But, 
wife,  we'll  soon  have  the  farm  now."  That  was  his  summum 
honum.  How  you  looked  forward  to  yours.  It  was  your  day- 
star.  "  When  I  reach  forty — when  I  reach  fifty — when 
I  reach  sixty — and  my  present  raven  locks  *  a  sable 
silvered,'  how  tranquil  will  all  things  be  round  about  me 
then.  Land  ahead  !  I  shall  almost  see  the  white  cliffs  of 
Heaven  right  ahead.  I  shall  feel  that  I  am  almost  home, 
that  I  am  almost  there — only  a  few  more  tranquil  days, 
and  under  sun-lit  or  moon-lit  skies  I  shall  drift  across  the 
harbour  bar,  and  drop  my  anchor  in  Fair  Havens  at  last." 
And  what  has  happened  ?  "  Why,"  you  say,  "  I  never  knew 
what  trouble  was  till  I  came  to  fifty.  I  never  knew 
what  care  was  till  my  shoulders  were  getting  thin 
and  bent,  and  my  energies  less  able  to  bear  it.  Now, 
when  my  strength  is  weakened,  and  I  have  not  the 
integrity  of  my  powers  as  once  I  had,  now  the  battle 
thickens,  now  I  have  need  to  be  at  my  best.  Ever, 
from  morning  till  night,  it  is  one  long  hurry,  and  confusion, 
and  trial."  Is  there  one  who  has  wakened  this  morning, 
and  who  is,  as  it  were,  in  a  cave,  instead  of  under  God's 
bright  and  over-arching  heaven — awakened  to  blackness, 
darkness,  and  tempest  ?  Kemember  this  One,  at  least,  who 
went  through  this  Valley  of  the  Shadow  before  you.     And 


52  "  THE    LOKD    SUSTAINED    ME." 

for  Him  it  was  long ;  abounding  in  dragons  and  serpents, 
in  quagmires  and  deep  pits,  with  all  manner  of  things 
noisome  and  ugly.  And  as  you  go  into  it,  listen  to  the 
voice  of  this  fellow-pilgrim  on  ahead  of  you.  And,  although 
at  first,  it  is  not  the  shout  of  victory,  it  turns  very  comfort- 
ing afterwards.  Still,  even  in  its  first  syllable,  as  it  falls 
upon  your  troubled  soul,  there  is  victory  and  peace.  For 
the  first  syllable  is  "Lord!"  That  is  how  to  put  all 
trouble  to  rights  ;  that  is  how  to  state  it.  There  is  a  great 
deal,  when  you  go  to  a  lawyer,  there  is  a  great  deal 
in  stating  your  case.  You  go  with  your  heart  packed  full ; 
you  are  warm  and  bursting  with  things  from  your  own 
point  of  view.  You  begin  to  pour  yourself  out  higgledly- 
piggledly,  and  the  lawyer  has  continually  to  stop  you — 
check  you — bring  you  down — get  you  to  tell  the  case  from 
his  point  of  view,  calmly,  logically,  systematically,  con- 
nectedly. Now  this,  David's  way,  is  how  to  speak 
when  your  heart  is  full,  your  very  soul  seething  and  boiling 
like  an  unquiet  sea.  Begin  this  way.  Compel  your  soul 
to  watch  the  ordering  of  her  words;  see  that  you  begin 
with  a  good  round  "  ore  rotundo,"  "  Lord  !  "  And  you  will 
have  got  rid  of  the  surcharge  of  sorrow  in  the  first  cry.  It 
is  wonderful  how  all  the  surge  that  is  behind — the  chaos — 
will  be  reduced  to  order  and  system  if  you  begin  well. 
**  Lord  !  "  he  said.  There  was  nobody  round  about  to  whom 
he  could  speak.  That  day  his  lodging  was  on  the  cold 
ground,  and  he  had  either  to  say  it  in  or  up,  and  he  said  it 
up.  **  Lord,  how  are  they  increased  that  trouble  me ! 
many  are  they  which  rise  up  against  me."  Now,  if  you 
find  that,  as  life  advances,  you  are  *'  being  emptied  from 
vessel  to  vessel,"  remember  that  God  has  so  dealt  with 
some  of  His  dearest  children.     The  man  after  God's  own 


**  THE    LOED    SUSTAINED    ME."  53 

heart  was  just  so  troubled  and  tried.  Don't  look  or  ask  for 
your  heaven  here  below.  If  tranquillity  comes,  thank  God 
for  it ;  but  be  as  much  on  the  alert,  as  keen  and  all  alive 
for  danger  as  ever.  Like  David,  beware  of  the  calm  as 
well  as  the  storm. 

* '  Look  away  to  Jesus,  if  the  skies  are  fair, 
Calm  seas  have  their  dangers,  mariner,  beware  ! 
Earthly  joys  are  fleeting,  going  as  they  came, 
Look  away  to  Jesus,  evermore  the  same." 

But  his  trouble  deepens.  This  is  made  clearer  in  the 
second  verse.  "  Many  there  be  which  say  of  my  soul,  There 
is  no  help  for  him  in  God."  That  was  a  shot  well  planted. 
During  Wimbledon  week,  as  it  used  to  be  called,  no  marks- 
man will  hit  the  target  better  than  that  ;  that  is  not  an 
outer  nor  an  inner,  that  is  the  bull's-eye.  That  is  the  last  and 
deadliest  arrow  in  Satan's  quiver.  When  that  thought 
comes,  then  the  Old  Guard  of  Kell  has  burst  upon  your 
soul.  **  Many  there  be  that  say  of  my  soul,  There  is  no  help 
for  him  in  God."  And  that  goes  home  all  the  more,  proves 
itself  to  be  all  the  more  deadly  a  shot,  betwixt  wind  and 
water,  if  there  is  a  something  in  your  own  heart  that  only 
too  sadly  inclines  to  say  the  same  thing  as  the  voices  from 
without.  For  I  do  think  that  the  greatest  trial  of  that 
sorrowful  day  and  morning  was  this,  the  thought  within 
David's  own  heart,  "  I  am  getting  less  than  my  sin  deserves." 
All  the  dark  and  shameful  business  of  Uriah  and  Bathsheba 
was  no  doubt  most  powerfully  present  to  his  heart  and 
mind.  **  I  was  a  fool.  I  was  more  stupid  and  ignorant 
than  is  a  brute.  I  was  at  Heaven's  gate,  and  from  thence  by 
transgression  I  fell.  If  God  has  come,  at  last,  to  fling  me 
out  openly  to  the  scorn  and  scoff  of  men,  to  the  hate  of  my 
enemies,  it  is  nothing  more  than  my  sin  deserves."     That, 


54  "  THE    LOBD    SUSTAINED    ME." 

then,  I  say,  will  be  a  kind  of  ally  to  the  foe  outside,  slipping 
up  to  open  the  postern  gate,  to  let  the  destroyer  in  to  work 
his  utmost  will.     "  I  have  myself  to  blame-." 

What  a  bitter  thought  it  must  have  been  !  "  David,  there 
is  your  Absalom,  the  son  of  your  bosom,  your  bright,  brave, 
handsome  boy,  and  he  has  driven  you  from  your  throne. 
There  is  your  Prime  Minister,  gone  over  to  the  side  of  the 
enemy.  There  are  many  of  your  counsellors  against  you, 
and  there  are  others  who  as  long  as  you  were  on  the  throne, 
these  haters  of  you,  feigned  submission  to  you ;  but  now 
that  you  are  down,  hear  the  curses  of  men  like  Shimei. 
You  had  forgiven  yourself  for  the  Bathsheba  business,  and 
you  had  said,  *  Ah  !  thank  God  it  is  a  while  since  that,  and 
it  has  died  down  ; '  but  it  has  never  died  down.  Now  they 
are  heaving  brick-bats  at  you,  and  that  old  sin  and  scandal 
was  the  cause.  And  perhaps  the  worst  of  all  is,  there  are 
many  saying,  '  That  old  David  of  ours  was  nothing — nothing 
but  a  hollow  hypocrite.  He  was  never  anything  but  a  secret 
wallowing  sensualist.  We  always  doubted  him.  We  al- 
ways said  he  was  not  what  he  seemed  to  be ;  and  God  Him- 
self is  confirming  our  opinion.  There  is  no  help  for  him  in 
God.  God  takes  our  view  of  this  royal  profligate  and  adul- 
terer, and  lo !  the  similarity  of  the  verdict  is  seen  in  what 
has  happened  to  him.'"  "  Many  there  were  who  said  of  his 
soul.  There  is  no  help  for  him  in  God." 

And  then  he  put  "  Selah."  Commentators  say  that 
"  Selah"  means  '*  rest,  pause,  stop  here  a  little."  "  Many 
there  be  which  say  of  my  soul.  There  is  no  help  for  him  in 
God."  Just  wait  a  minute  and  think  of  that.  What  an 
awful  silence  comes  into  one's  ear  and  into  one's  heart. 
What  a  world  it  would  be — what  a  midnight  this  noon 
would  be,  if  it  were  true. 


"  THE    LORD    SUSTAINED    ME."  55 

But  it  is  not  true.  David  doesn't  go  on  to  argue.  In  the 
next  verse  he  just  gets  straight  above  it.  "  But  thou,  0 
Lord,  art  a  shield  for  me;  my  glory,  and  the  lifter-up  of  my 
head.  I  cried  unto  the  Lord  with  my  voice,  and  He  heard 
me  out  of  His  holy  hill."  Some  thoughts  and  temptations 
won't  argue  with  you.  There  is  no  use  trying  to  argue 
down  some.  There  is  no  other  way  of  getting  past  some 
great  mountain,  that  seems  to  stand  between  you  and  God, 
but  just  to  hurl  yourself  at  it.*  If  this  desertion  and 
abandonment  by  God  is  true,  the^i  hell  has  come.  There  is 
no  time  to  argue — I  must  instantly  destroy  it,  altogether, 
entirely.  And  so  he  cries,  **  0  Lord,  Thou  art  a  shield  for 
me  ;  my  glory,  and  the  lifter-up  of  my  head."  He  meets  a 
very  positive  statement  by  another  equally  positive.  Do  I 
speak  to  any  despondent  soul  to-day?  Is  anybody  lying  here, 
as  in  a  Doubting  Castle,  belaboured  by  Giant  Despair,  who 
is  taking  his  cudgel  and  pommelling  every  bone  in  your 
spiritual  anatomy  ?  There  is  no  help  for  you  in  God ;  you 
are  a  scoundrel,  cheat,  liar,  sensualist;  you  are  no  more 
what  you  profess  yourself  to  be  than  the  enemies  of  David 
said  he  was  what  he  professed  to  be.  You  have  been  found 
out  by  God  and  man.  "  Give  it  up,"  says  a  voice ;  "  let  loose — 
let  drive — you  are  pulled  up  by  the  roots,  and  are  spinning 
away  down  on  a  roaring  flood  to  the  cataracts  at  the  end." 
Is  any  soul  troubled  by  a  thought  like  that  ?  And  why,  let 
me  ask,  should  not  the  best  of  us,  knowing  what  we  are, 
and  what  we  have  been  before  God — why  should  not  God 
give  us  a  turn  through  this  whirlwind  of  affliction,  like 
David?     All  the  elements  are  at  hand,  if  God  choose. 

But,  my  friend,  what  I  want  to  say  is,  it  is  not  true. 
When  any  thought  comes  to  you  and  says,  "  There  is  no 
help  for  you  even  in  God,"  that  messenger  has  shown  the 


56  "  THE    LOED    SUSTAINED    ME." 

cloven  hoof.  He  has  not  only  done  it,  but  he  has  overdone 
it.  He  has  exceeded  his  commission — gone  beyond  his  brief. 
It  is  not  true  that  there  is  no  help  in  God.  Take  your 
Bible,  when  you  go  home,  and  turn  up  all  the  passages 
which  flatly  contradict  this,  and  you  will  wonder  to  your- 
self, "  Why  should  the  Bible  have  so  many  such  passages  ? 
and  why  should  I  not  be  using  them  ?  "  Believe  me,  they 
were  put  there  against  the  day  when  your  soul  and  mine 
will  get  a  few  twinges  of  David's  experience.  There  are 
wonderful  passages  which  directly  contradict  this.  I 
cannot  give  them  all — I  am  thinking  mainly  just  of  one. 
O  David  !  0  Israel !  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself.  You 
have  drawn  the  knife  across  your  own  throat.  It  is  not 
Absalom  ;  it  is  not  Saul :  it  is  the  Saul  within  you  that 
has  dealt  this  wound.  "  Thou  hast  destroyed  thyself,  but 
in  Me  is  thine  help."  Life  from  the  death  of  spiritual 
suicide.  That  is  the  amazing  height  and  depth  of  the 
grace  of  God.  Then  let  these  voices  be  the  voices  of  so 
many  liars  unto  you  when  they  say,  **  There  is  no  help  in 
God."  When  they  come  and  say,  "  There  is  no  help  in 
Absalom  " — quite  right.  When  they  say,  '*  Ahithophel  has 
turned  treacherous  " — I  do  not  doubt  it.  "  Shimei  is  cursing 
you " — perfectly  so.  When  they  say,  "  You  are  an  old 
hypocrite  " — quite  right.  But  when  they  say,  "  God  has 
cast  you  off!  " — Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  !  Liar  !  Worse 
than  I  am  is  the  voice  that  would  dare  to  speak  against  the 
faithfulness  of  my  Eedeemer  God.      **  He  abideth  faithful." 

"  Thou,  0  Lord,  art  a  shield  for  me;  my  glory,  and  the 
lifter-up  of  mine  head." 

Then,  notice,  that  God  is  whatever  you  need  Him  to  be. 
Here  He  is  a  shield  for  a  man  who  had  a  whole  nation  in 
revolt  against  him.     That  was  handy,  wasn't  it?     "My 


"  THE   LORD    SUSTAINED    ME."  57 

glory  " — for  a  man  whom  almost  everybody  was  defaming. 
David  was  the  scorn  and  scoff  of  every  pot-house  ruffian, 
but  of  God  he  could  say,  "He  is  my  glory;  the  lifter-up 
of  my  head."  When  you  dare  not  look  a  human  being  in 
the  face,  the  consciousness  of  your  own  guilt  and  ill-desert 
is  BO  bad,  when  you  dare  not  even  look  to  God's  clear 
heaven,  when  you  are  like  the  publican  with  your  head  cast 
down  as  an  indication  of  the  utter  prostration  of  your 
heart,  then  God  is  the  lifter-up  of  your  head.  How  exactly 
God  fitted  this  banished  man !  There  is  an  old  tradition 
amongst  the  Jews,  that  the  manna  tasted  like  lohatever 
you  were  hungry  for  every  morning.  If  you  woke  up,  for 
example,  hungry  for  Egyptian  cucumbers  and  leeks,  and 
did  not  murmur  after  them,  but  thankfully  took  your 
manna,  the  manna  tasted  like  them.  If  you  woke  up,  like 
a  Scotchman,  wanting  it  to  taste  like  porridge  and  milk,  it 
became  so.  It  was  whatever  you  wanted  it  to  be.  And 
God,  oh.  He  is  our  life  ;  He  wakens  us  every  morning.  He 
is  all  our  strength  and  stay,  and  is  whatever  you  need  Him 
to  be.  Do  you  want  a  friend  ?  God  is  a  Friend.  Do  you 
want  a  guide?  God  is  a  Guide.  Do  you  want  somebody 
to  be  as  it  were  yom-  leader  in  battle  ?  The  Lord  is  a  Man 
of  War.  Do  you  want  somebody  to  be  your  advocate,  to 
stand  in  the  High  Court  and  plead  your  cause  ?  We  have 
an  Advocate.  W^hatever  you  want  Him  or  need  Him  to 
be.  He  adapts  Himself  exactly  to  the  very  shape  and  body 
and  colour  of  your  wants.  It  is  all  in  that  verse.  '*  A 
shield — glory — lifter-up  of  mine  head."  What  was  David 
wanting  but  just  all  these  things.  He  was  needing  pro- 
tection ;  and  God,  his  shield,  covered  his  head  in  the  day 
of  battle.  He  was  needing  somebody  to  stand  up  for  him, 
he  was  needing  one  who  would  come  and  overcome  the  very 


58  "  THE    LOKD    SUSTAINED    ME. 

accusations  of  his  own  conscience.  Ah  !  these  are  the  last 
accusers  to  be  pushed  off— the  accusations  of  one's  own 
conscience.  You  may  get  friends  to  stand  up  for  you  in 
the  world ;  hut  if  your  heart  says  it  is  less  than  the  truth, 
then  God  alone  can  lift  your  downcast  head.  But  God 
can.  He  takes  in  the  whole  compass  of  your  case,  and 
pleads  and  wins  on  every  point ;  restores  you  to  the  king- 
dom, to  the  good  opinion  of  all  those  whose  good  opinion  is 
worth  having,  and  restores  you  to  peace  with  yourself. 
".My  shield,  my  glory,  and  the  hfter-up  of  my  head." 

I  like  that  last  expression,  "  Lifter-up  of  my  head."  I 
know  it  means  to  restore  to  honour ;  but  it  means  this 
also.  There  is  your  child,  my  good  mother,  and  your  child 
has  been  bad,  and  you  have  chastised  it.  You  have  put 
the  poor  little  bundle  of  wretchedness  and  crossness  into 
a  corner,  and  there  it  is  standing,  soiling  all  its  face  with 
hot  and  scalding  tears.  Then  your  heart  relents;  the 
extreme  of  misery  tells  upon  you,  for  you  are  its  mother, 
and  blood  is  thicker  than  water.  And  you  come  towards 
the  little  thing,  and,  as  you  come  nearer  and  nearer,  the 
farther  it  creeps  in  the  corner,  and  the  lower  it  hangs  its. 
head.  And  what  do  you  do  ?  Instead  of  chastising  it  any 
more,  you  come  quite  close,  and  with  one  hand  on  the 
little  one's  shoulder  you  put  the  other  hand  below  its  chin, 
and,  literally,  you  lift  up  the  little  face  into  the  light  of 
your  own,  and  stoop  down  and  kiss  it.  Did  you  ever  think 
that  that  is  what  God  wants  to  do  with  the  poor  weary 
sinner  who  has  gone  back  and  done  shamefully?  When 
fears  are  on  every  side,  and  awful  voices  in  your  own 
heart  speak  ominously  of  eternal  doom,  God  comes,  and 
with  His  own  gracious  hand  lifts  up  your  head.  It  has 
other  meanings,  but  I  take  the  homeliest  one.     He  anoints 


"  THE    LORD    SUSTAINED    ME."  59 

and  cheers  our  soiled  face ;  He  lifts  up  our  head,  and  lets 
the  light  of  His  own  reconciled  countenance  beam  down 
upon  us. 

"  I  cried  unto  the  Lord  with  my  voice,  and  He  heard  me 
out  of  His  holy  hill."  David  is  here  represented  in  prayer. 
How  constantly  you  meet  David  crying  unto  God,  asking 
for  mercy.  But  I  think  he  always  contrives  to  put  in  some 
little  new  touch  to  bring  in  variety  in  the  midst  of  what 
otherwise  would  be  monotony.  And  here  is  one,  "  I  cried 
unto  the  Lord  with  my  voice."  Why  does  he  put  in 
"with  my  voice"?  "And  He  heard  me  out  of  His  holy 
hill."  Don't  you  think,  my  hearer,  the  Spirit  of  God  is 
teaching  us  behind  that  way  of  putting  it.  A  good  deal  of 
our  trouble  is  owing  to  this.  That  not  only  have  we 
sinned  against  God,  but  we  do  not  energetically  seek  that 
God  in  our  own  prayer.  It  was  not  a  dumb  thinking  of  the 
matter  over  within  his  own  breast  with  David,  but  he 
spoke  out.  I  know  we  can  pray  without  words  ;  but  here 
is  how  God  would  teach  us,  especially  when  things  are  dark 
without,  and  sad  and  heavy  within.  He  wants  to  hear  the 
voice  of  His  people  crying  to  Him.  I  am  afraid  a  number 
of  people  are  reducing  prayer  too  much  to  a  kind  of  holy 
meditation.  **  Enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou  hast 
shut  thy  door  " — why  "  shut  the  door  "  ?  because  you  are 
going  to  use  your  voice.  And  it  is  good  for  you  to  Jiear 
your  own  voice,  calling  upon  your  own  God.  A  great  many 
of  the  beleaguers  of  your  soul  who  stand  round  about  you 
will  take  flight,  when  they  see  you  down  upon  your  knees, 
and  hear  your  voice  saying,  "  Lord  help  me."  A  number 
of  us  are  being  merged  and  almost  submc«rged  in  a  deep  and 
angry  sea  of  trouble  for  want  of  the  cry,  "  Lord,  save  me ;  I 
perish."     Speak  to  thy  God.      Cast  out  the  dumb  spirit. 


"  THE    LORD    SUSTAINED    ME. 

"  I  cried  unto  the  Lord  with  my  voice,  and  He  heard  me 
out  of  His  holy  hill."  That  is  a  splendid  text  for  this 
agnostic,  materialistic  nineteenth  century. 

What  a  grand  philosophy  of  prayer  we  get  in  God's  Book 
and  these  Psalms.  Let  it  be  written  in  letters  of  living 
light.  *'  I  cried  unto  the  Lord  with  my  voice,  and  He 
heard  me  out  of  His  holy  hill."  I,  down  here  in  darkness, 
with  trouble  closing  upon  me  like  wolves  upon  the  belated 
traveller — I  cried ;  and  One,  as  loving,  and  human,  and 
personal  as  myself,  heard  me.  My  Father-God,  my 
Mother-God,  up  yonder  in  heaven,  heard  me.  When  I,  His 
child,  fell  down  here  on  the  earth,  I  tried  to  get  up,  and 
began  to  cry.  And  He — I  almost  like  to  call  Him  my  Mother- 
God,  He  knew  the  cry  of  His  bairn  in  the  street,  and 
quicker  than  I  can  tell  it,  flew  to  my  relief.  "  That's  My 
David,"  said  God,  as  He  rose  and  came  to  the  front  door  of 
heaven  to  listen,  when  they  were  badgering  him,  and  the 
hounds  of  hell  were  upon  him.  "  I  knew  My  David's 
voice  amongst  10,000  voices."  And  God  came  out  and 
scattered  them  right  and  left,  and  set  him  on  high  from  all 
his  enemies. 

And  this  is  prayer.  Of  course  this  is  not  a  very 
philosophic  way  of  putting  it.  But,  after  all,  it  is  the 
way  of  putting  it.  "I  cried  to  God  with  my  voice,  and  He 
heard  me  out  of  His  holy  hill."  Ah  !  the  hell  of  our  hell 
will  be  this,  if  we  get  there,  that  we  knew  God,  and  we 
needed  God,  and  v/e  perished  rather  than  cry. 

*'  I  laid  me  down  and  slept ;  I  awaked ;  for  the  Lord 
sustained  me."  You  see  David  in  the  morning  rising 
and  shaking  the  dew  out  of  his  grey  hairs.  And  as  he 
wakens,  it  all  rushes  upon  him  what  has  happened.  But 
instead  of  giving  way  to  despondency  and  saying,  "  Now 


"  THE    LOKD    SUSTAINED    ME."  61 

the  last  of  days  has  been  reached,  however  shall  I  get 
through?" — the  mere  fact  that  he  lay  down  last  night  a 
homeless  man,  a  crownless  king,  with  his  fellow-subjects 
in  revolt  against  him,  and  plenty  of  people  wishing  his 
ruin,  and  lo  !  this  morning  he  is  up  and  well ;  this  calms 
him  of  itself.  He  feels  himself  all  over,  he  is  sound  in 
wind  and  limb,  and  it  gives  him  courage.  "  I  laid  me 
down  and  slept  ;  I  awaked  ;  for  the  Lord  sustained 
me." 

When  I  was  a  student,  one  of  our  most  distinguished 
professors  gave  us  one  or  two  very  deep  and  profound 
lectures  upon  the  philosophy  of  sleep.  I  hstened,  I  trust, 
with  grave  interest ;  but,  after  all,  I  prefer  David.  This  is 
the  philosophy  of  sleep.  You  lay  down  last  night,  and  you 
woke  up  this  morning,  for  it  was  God's  good  pleasure  that 
you  should.  This  is  the  last  analysis  of  the  fact  to  which  I 
am  referring.  God  was  pleased  that  you  should  wake  on 
this  instead  of  on  the  other  side ;  therefore  you  are  here. 
Sleep  is  the  image  of  death,  the  twin  brother  of  the  last 
enemy ;  and  when  you  are  lying  calmly  and  unconsciously 
asleep,  I  should  like  the  sinner  to  think  of  this.  Think  how 
God  has  you  in  His  power.  Where  are  you,  young  fellow 
— you  who  rejected  God's  Christ,  and  have  never  yet 
given  your  allegiance  to  heaven's  King  ? 

The  doctors  say  that  in  the  depth  of  our  sleep  our 
very  physical  powers  are  at  their  feeblest.  There  comes  a 
time  when  the  powers  of  life  ebb,  and  ebb,  and  ebb  down 
to  low  water ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  life  why  the 
tide  turns  and  the  waters  begin  to  flow,  and  flow,  and  you 
wake  up  unconsciously,  not  enfeebled,  but  refreshed  from 
that  bath  in  the  river  of  Lethe.  But  why  do  you  come 
back  ?     It  is  not  your  doing.      Think  how  God  has  you  in 


62  **  THE    LORD    SUSTAINED    ME." 

His  power,  my  scoffing,  sceptical  friend.  Every  time  you 
lie  in  unconsciousness  you  are  on  the  edge  of  a  precipice, 
and  how  easy  it  would  be  for  the  angel  of  death  just  with 
his  foot  to  roll  you  over — how  easy  !  Don't  dare  to-night 
to  lie  down — don't  dare  to  do  it !  There  is  a  kind  of 
blasphemy  in  a  prayerless,  godless  pillow.  There  is  a 
something  that  profanes  Him  to  His  face  that  you  should 
dare  to  lie  down  and  sleep,  and  never  reckon  with  Him,  who 
by  a  touch  could  usher  you  in  to  the  roar  that  lies  on  the 
other  side  of  silence  ! 

That  is  the  severe  side ;  but  let  us  come  to  the  gracious 
side.  "  I  laid  me  down  and  slept,"  say  all  true  believers, 
and  **  I  awaked,  for  the  Lord  sustained  me."  Weil,  now, 
you  might  sleep  more  soundly  after  that,  anyway.  I  don't 
know  that  David  ever  slept  more  soundly  in  his  big  four- 
poster  in  the  palace  in  Jerusalem,  surrounded  by  his  life- 
guards, and  with  all  appHances  and  means  to  boot.  I  don't 
know  that  he  ever  slept  sounder  than  when  his  lodging  was 
on  the  cold  ground.  When  he  had  nobody  to  defend  him 
but  the  Lord  God  Almighty,  he  crept  into  His  bosom  and 
got  shelter  there.  You  see,  if  we  know  God,  and  if  we  give 
all  things  utterly  into  God's  hands,  sleeping  or  waking,  sick 
or  well,  young  or  old,  how  safe  we  are  !  The  Lord  sustained 
me ;  the  Arm  that  piled  the  mountains,  and  '*  sowed  the 
heavens  with  stars,"  sustained  me.  **  I  am  poor  and  needy, 
yet  the  Lord  thinketh  on  me."  Then,  as  somebody  has 
said,  when  night  comes,  take  a  sleep,  my  friend,  and  allow 
God  to  look  after  his  own  world.  Believe  me,  nothing  will 
go  wrong  if  you  should  sleep  soundly.  It  is  vain  for  you 
to  rise  early  and  sit  up  late  if  God  slumbers  not  nor  sleeps. 
You  may  go  to  sleep ;  God  asks  none  of  us  to  work  upon 
the  night  shift.     Take  your  rest,  my  friend,  when  the  night 


*'THE    LORD    SUSTAINED    ME."  63 

comes ;  God  has  sent  it  to  you  as  one  of  His  best  gifts. 
**  He  giveth  His  beloved  sleep." 

"  Of  all  the  thoughts  of  God  that  are 
Borne  inward  into  souls  afar, 

Along  the  Psalmist's  music  deep — 
Now,  tell  me  if  that  aught  there  is 
For  gift  of  grace  surpassing  this — 

He  giveth  His  beloved  sleep  ? " 

"  I  will  not  be  afraid  of  ten  thousands  of  people,  that  have 
set  themselves  against  me  round  about."  How  time  has 
gone !  I  meant  to  have  gone  through  this  Psalm,  but  I 
must  not  attempt  it.  Just  one  last  peep  at  David.  What 
a  blessing  sleep  is !  What  a  blessing  a  gracious  sleep  is ! 
For  do  you  see  how  the  veteran  has  rallied,  "I  laid  me  dovna 
and  slept;  I  awaked;  for  the  Lord  sustained  me."  Now  look 
at  him.  "  Eichard's  himself  again."  This  giant  is 
refreshed.  "  I  will  not  be  afraid  of  ten  thousands  of 
people."  Come  on  !  come  on  !  I  am  fit  and  well.  '*  Now 
blessed  be  God,"  he  says,  "  we  will  give  some  account  of 
this  day." 

May  God  give  all  of  us  that  rally  this  morning.     It  is  one 

of  the  blessings  of  the  Sabbath  to  tone  us  up,  to  recover  us, 

to  re-invigorate  us,  to  make  us  feel  that  we  can  say  with  a 

shout,  in  answer  to  the  desponding  question,  maybe  of  last 

night,  "  Is  life  worth  living  ?  " — "  How  beautiful  it  is  to  be 

alive  !  " 

"  How  beautiful  it  is  to  be  alive  ! 

To  wake  each  morn  as  if  our  Maker's  grace 
Did  us  afresh  from  nothingness  derive, 

That  we  might  bing,  How  happy  is  our  case  ! 
How  beautiful  it  is  to  be  alive  !  " 

"  God's  right  hand  was  under  my  head,  and  His  left  em- 
braced me.     The  Lord  is  with  me ;  how  shall  I  fear  ?     I 


64  "  THE    LORD    SUSTAINED    ME. 

will  not  be  afraid  " — and  he  is  careful  to  enumerate  them, 
not  to  under-estimate  them — "  of  ten  thousands  of  the  people 
who  have  set  themselves  against  me  round  about."  I  am  up. 
Now,  arise  Thou,  0  Lord.  Save  me,  0  my  God !  Smite 
mine  enemy  upon  the  cheek-bone ;  break  the  teeth  of  the 
ungodly.  He  gets  a  vision  of  himself  in  his  earlier  days, 
when  he  was  a  defender  of  a  flock  of  sheep.  When  the 
lion  and  the  bear  tried  to  seize  them  from  him,  he  remem- 
bers how  he  went  straight  to  the  very  front  of  the  danger. 
■He  smote  the  Hon  on  the  jawbone  and  the  teeth ;  and  some- 
thing said  within  him,  "  Poor,  battered  old  David !  that  is 
what  God  will  do.  All  your  troubles  will  become  toothless 
tigers  to  you.  God  will  take  the  teeth  out  of  them,  the  life 
out  of  them,  the  fangs  out  of  them,  the  stings  out  of  them." 

"  The  Lord's  my  light  and  saving  health, 
Who  shall  make  me  dismayed  ? 
My  life's  strength  is  the  Lord,  of  whom 
Then  shall  I  be  afraid  ? " 


^^^'^^ 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers.  3  &  .^,  Marvlebnne  Lnne.  London,  W. 


^egmt  §qtiaa  f  ulpit. 


JAMES   AND    PETER,   AND   HEROD  AND  GOD. 


Preached  in  Eegent  Square  Presbyterian  Church 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


Text— Acts  xii.  1-10. 

In  this  narrative,  as  in  many  others,  there  are  particular 
texts  that  look  up  and  invite  special  treatment,  but  I  rather 
prefer  to  go  over  it  in  the  old  way  that  is  familiar  to  you 
and  to  me — the  way  of  connected  exposition.     Then  we 
may  return  and  take  up  these  texts  that  invite  the  sinking 
of  a  shaft  to  find  out  the  riches  that  lie  straight  down 
below.     This  is  a  narrative  full  of  meaning  for  the  Church, 
and  full  of  teaching  for  the  individual.     Evidently  the  in- 
tention of  the  Spirit  of  God  is  to  give  comfort,  and  help,  and 
stimulus  to  the   Church,   and  to  the   individual   believer. 
The    whole    Church    was    concerned    in    Peter's   danger. 
"  Prayer  was   made   unto  God  by   the  Church  for  him." 
The  whole   Church  was  persecuted    in    his    persecution, 
weakened  if  he  fell,  strengthened  if  he  stood  fast.     And 
then,  of  course,  although  Peter  occupied  that  representative 
position,  as   regards   the   Church,  like   all  of  us,  he   had 

Vol.  III.— No.  5. 


66       JAMES  AND  PETER,  AND  HEROD  AND  GOD. 

his  own  personal  life  to  live,  and  his  own  individual  position 
and  prospects  as  a  believing  man ;  and  whatsoever 
happened  to  him,  happened  to  him  as  representing  himself, 
an  individual  man,  who  some  time  before  gave  his  heart  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Let  us,  therefore,  as  representing 
the  struggling,  the  tried,  the  indestructible  Church  of  God, 
look  upon  this  narrative  ;  and  let  us  also,  as  individual  men 
and  women,  fighting  our  own  personal  battle,  having  our 
own  peculiar  dangers,  and  our  own  peculiar  vicissitudes, 
learn  for  the  whole  Church,  and  for  each  one  of  us  particu- 
larly, how  true  it  is  that  not  a  hair  of  our  head  can  perish, 
if  we  are  Christ's  by  a  simple  and  a  living  faith. 

"  About  that  time  Herod  the  king  stretched  forth  his 
hand  to  vex  certain  of  the  Church.  And  he  killed  James 
the  brother  of  John  with  the  sword."  Is  it  not  written 
almost  a  little  heartlessly?  No  note  of  exclamation;  no 
raising  of  an  epitaph ;  every  word  said  as  coldly  as  though 
the  narrator  had  been  Herod's  own  secretary.  '*  He  killed 
James  the  brother  of  John  with  the  sword."  It  seems  as 
though  there  is  no  God — as  though  there  is  no  Almighty 
defence.  Just  as  some  young  communicant,  last  Lord's 
Day,  came  into  the  open  and  professed  fellowship  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  so,  some  time  before  this,  this  man 
called  James  the  brother  of  John  gave  up  the  world,  and 
gave  up  a  mere  formal  religion,  and  came  into  Uving  faith 
and  contact  vdth  Jesus,  the  crucified,  the  glorified  Saviour. 
And  this  is  what  it  brought  him.  This  is  what  came  of  it. 
This  is  all  that  came  out  of  it — a  few  short  years  of  trouble, 
and  trial,  and  contempt,  and  persecution,  and  then  one 
fine  morning  out  stepped  Herod  and  ruthlessly  cut  off  his 
head.  As  a  stranger,  strolling  along  in  the  country  to-day, 
whisks  off  the  heads  of  the  flowers  with  his  walking-stick, 


JAMES  AND  PETEK,  AND  HEROD  AND  GOD.       67 

80  did  Herod ;  and  as  cheaply  and  easily  as  the  man  in  my 
illustration,  so  he  seemed  to  do  it,  and  so  he  seemed  to  get 
off  with  it.  Verily,  the  pathway  of  faith,  my  beloved  friends, 
is  a  strange  one  to  flesh  and  blood.  We  had  need  to  know, 
before  we  begin  it,  what  lies  ahead.  And  is  it  not  kind  of 
our  Master  to  turn  round  upon  us  as  He  turned  round 
upon  all  intending  disciples,  at  the  first,  and  virtually  to  say, 
"  Now,  understand  what  My  service  means.  It  may  not 
mean  honour :  it  may  rather  mean  the  very  reverse.  It 
means  trouble,  and  spiritual  persecution,  and  hardship,  and 
trial,  when  no  small  tempest  Hes  upon  you,  and  neither  sun, 
nor  moon,  nor  stars  for  many  days  appear  "  ?  He  says  to  us, 
just  as  He  said  then,  "  Foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of 
the  air  have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  Man  hath  not  where  to 
lay  His  head ;  "  and,  "  If  any  man  be  a  disciple  of  Mine,  let 
him  be  prepared,"  first  and  last,  and  all  the  time,  '*  to  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily,  and  follow  Me."  "He 
killed  James  the  brother  of  John  with  the  sword."  Exit 
James.  Poor  James  !  you  pitifully  say.  That  is  the  last 
of  him.  Is  it  ?  No.  Your  life  may  be  at  the  beginning 
and  end  just  as  coldly  noticed,  but  remember,  that  behind 
this  cold  print,  and  behind  this  seemingly  cold  noticing  of 
the  Biblical  narrator,  there  is  a  fire  glowing,  a  fire  of  love, 
a  fire  of  power,  a  fire  of  honour  and  of  glory.  Ah !  poor 
Herod,  that  was  a  poor  stroke,  though  you  thought  it  was  a 
big  one,  when  you  killed  James  the  brother  of  John  with 
the  sword.  Herod  seejns  to  win,  and  James  sfeems  to  show 
that  it  is  better  for  a  man  to  keep  clear  of  a  faithful 
allegiance  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  ofttimes  has 
brought  men  into  the  shipwreck  of  all  earthly  fortune,  and 
at  last,  the  last  of  aU  disasters,  death  itself.  But  be  not 
misled. 


,68       JAMES  AND  PETEE,  AND  HEEOD  AND  GOD. 

*'  Truth  for  ever  on  the  scaffold, 
Wrong  for  ever  on  the  throne, 
Yet  that  scaffold  simys  the  future  ; 

And  within  the  dim  unknown 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow 
Keeping  watch  above  His  own." 

James's  life  was  not  a  failure. 

"  They  never  fail  who  die  in  this  great  cause  ; 
Their  gore  may  soak  the  block  ; 

Their  heads  may  sodden  in  the  sun.     Their  limbs  be  strung 
To  city  gates  and  castle  walls  ;  but  still 
Their  spirit  walks  abroad.     Though  years  elapse. 
And  others  share  as  dark  a  doom, 

They  but  augment  the  sweeping  thoughts  that  overpower  all  others, 
And  conduct  the  world  at  last  to  freedom." 

Young  men,  I  say  unto  you,  come  to  Jesus  Christ, 
although  it  may  mean,  before  the  day  is  quite  done,  what 
it  meant  for  James,  the  Lord's  brother.  Who  was  it  who 
said  not  long  ago  that  he  would  strongly  advise  all  young 
men  in  the  very  flower  of  their  early  youth  to  espouse  some 
unpopular  but  righteous  cause  ?  Such  always  from  age  to 
age  is  the  cause  of  Christ  Jesus — unpopular,  if  you  be 
faithful  to  it,  but  righteous;  I  hope  that  we  have  all 
espoused  it,  come  what  may. 

"  And  because  he  saw  it  pleased  the  Jews,  he  proceeded 
further  to  take  Peter  also.  And  when  he  had  apprehended 
him,  he  put  him  in  prison,  and  delivered  him  to  four 
quaternions  of  soldiers  to  keep  him ;  intending  after 
Easter  to  bring  him  forth  to  the  people.  Peter,  therefore 
was  kept  in  prison  :  but  prayer  was  made  without  ceasing 
of  the  Church  unto  God  for  him."  What  a  strange 
world  it  is !  Actually,  my  friends,  you  live  in  a  world 
animated  with  this  spirit,  a  world  that  was  then  and 
still  is  pleased   to   see,   not  bull-baiting  or  bear-baiting, 


JAMES  AND  PETER,  AND  HEROD  AND  GOD.        69 

for  sometimes  it  gets  so  superficially  civilized  that  it 
is  shocked  at  the  running  of  animal  blood,  and  says,  "Let 
that  be  removed.  We  are  too  refined  now  for  such 
savagery;"  but  the  world  never  yet  got  to  the  pitch  of 
refinement  at  which  it  did  not  like  to  see  a  Christian 
tortured  and  baited.  Such  is  the  world  you  live  in.  The 
man,  perhaps,  who  sits  next  to  you  has  no  better  sport,  if 
the  bad  spirit  that  is  in  him  could  Only  just  get  develop- 
ment and  chance  for  free  play.  Because  it  pleased  the 
Jews,  Herod  would  kill  as  many  as  they  liked — "butchered 
to  make  a  Jewish  holiday  " — mark  you,  not  a  Eoman 
holiday,  but  a  Jewish  one ;  butchered  people — to  please 
religious  people — to  please  the  Jews.  Therefore,  let 
scaffolds  be  erected,  and  fetch  forward  the  Apostles. 
"  Because  he  saw  it  pleased  the  Jews."  Herod  was  a  very 
bad  man.  There  is  no  saying  one  good  w^ord  in  his  favour ; 
but  Herod  wore  his  head  above  his  shoulders,  and  he  saw 
and  knew  what  was  what,  and  he  did  this  thing  because  it 
was  the  correct  card  to  play.  It  suited  him,  and  it  fitted 
the  Jews.  Never  forget  that;  and  let  us  continually 
ask  ourselves,  and  continually  before  God  ask  Him 
to  search  us  and  know  us,  and  try  our  hearts,  and 
see  if  there  be  any  of  this  bigoted,  malignant  spmt  in  us, 
and  lead  us  away  from  this  wickedness  into  the  ways  that 
are  everlasting. 

"  When  he  had  apprehended  him,  he  put  him  in  prison, 
and  delivered  him  to  four  quaternions  of  soldiers  to  keep 
him,  intending  after  Easter  to  bring  him  forth  to  the 
people."  He  did  not  just  switch  off  Peter's  head,  as  the 
walking-stick  does  the  poppies',  but  he  meant  to  do  it ; 
and  the  intention  is  to  make  the  scene  stand  out,  as  though 
Herod's  purpose  were  as  good  as  done.     We  have  to  stand 


70  JAMES   AND   PETER,    AND    HEROD    AND    GOD. 

over  this  narrative,  and  ask,  in  the  name  of  reason  and 
common  sense,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  wonderful,  how  it 
is  that  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  has  survived  to  this 
hour  in  the  month  of  December,  1890.  How,  in  all  the 
world,  is  it  now  here  ?  Remember  what  it  has  come 
through.  Eemember  how  often  Herod  and  Herod's 
successors  have  risen  and  said,  "  This  religion  is  to  be 
blotted  out,"  and  have  meant  it;  and  have -seemed  to  get 
full-swing  at  it,  and,  mirabile  dictu,  the  Church  is  here,  and 
Herod  safely  shut  down  beneath  the  stage,  "  till  God,  in 
judgment,  calls  him  forth  to  meet  his  final  doom."  The 
Church  up,  and  Herod  down ;  the  scaffold  swaying  the 
future ;  the  bush  burning  —  nee  tamen  consumehatur — 
burning,  but  not  consumed.  Wonder  of  wonders  !  it  is 
going  on  to-day.  Let  the  Church  collectively  fade  away, 
as  in  a  dissolving  view,  that  the  individual  member,  the 
individual  soul,  may  come  out  the  brighter.  You  and  I, 
my  friends,  are  just  in  the  thick  of  it  all.  There  is  not  a 
true  believer  in  Jesus  Christ  here  who  is  not  a  marked  man ; 
a  price  is  set  upon  your  head.  It  would  give  vast  pleasure 
to  the  under  world  if  the  god  of  this  world  could  pull  you 
away  from  Christ — if  he  could  blot  out  of  your  heart  that 
thing  that  he  hates,  more  than  he  hates  anything  else — the 
faith  and  fear  of  the  crucified  Nazarene.  Hell  from  beneath 
would  be  moved  with  an  unholy  joy,  if  you  spiritually  could 
be  killed  dead.  Yes,  that  is  the  world  in  which  we  live, 
and  move,  and  have  our  being  ;  and  if  to-day  we  are  alive, 
spiritually — if  to-day  we  are  alive  unto  God  through  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ — if  to-day  we  are  breaking  with  old  Herod — 
if  to-day  we  are  resisting  the  world — if  to-day  we  are  crucify- 
ing the  flesh  with  its  affections  and  lusts,  all  these  are  signs 
that,  like  Peter,  we  bear  a  charmed  life,  and  that  the  Lord 


JAMES  AND  PETER,  AND  HEROD  AND  GOD.       71 

of  hosts  Himself  must  have  been  a  wall  of  fire  round  about 
us,  and  the  glory  in  the  midst  of  us.  For  our  death  is 
"intended,"  like  Peter's;  the  death  of  the  Church  and  of 
the  individual.  That  is  the  spirit  of  the  age ;  that  is  the 
spirit  of  the  time.  From  age  to  age  the  world  kills  us, 
either  with  persecution  or  in  some  other  way.  **  There  are 
two  ways,"  says  the  old  proverb,  "  of  killing  a  dog  :  Break 
his  back  with  a  stick,  or  choke  him  with  butter."  There 
are  two  ways  of  killing  the  Church,  and  either  the  one  or 
the  other  is  perpetually  tried — sometimes  both.  They 
either  kill  us  in  this  old,  red-handed,  open,  out-and-out 
fashion,  and  clear  us  off;  or  else  take  the  other  method,  the 
seductive,  the  way  less  painful  to  the  flesh,  but,  I  had 
almost  said,  the  more  dangerous  to  the  life  of  the  Church. 

Still  the  Church  survives.  Still  the  individual  draws  the 
breath  of  everlasting  life  in  faith,  and  prayer,  and  praising, 
and  preaching.  '*  Sire,"  said  one  at  a  Continental  Court — 
a  crafty  wicked  man  too,  but  he  uttered  a  true  word — 
"  Sire,"  said  he,  to  his  monarch,  when  fresh  persecutions 
were  intended,  "  the  Church  is  an  anvil  which  has  worn 
out  many  a  hammer."  That  is  true,  and  that  is  destined 
to  become  increasingly  true.  And  if  you  wish  an  old  pro- 
verb to  represent  the  same  thing  as  regards  the  individual, 
you  have  it  in  the  proverb,  **  Threatened  folk  live  long." 
Peter  was  well  threatened,  but  he  survived.  And  many 
spiritual  foes  threaten  your  spiritual  life  and  mine.  They 
threaten  this  only  golden,  this  only  precious  thing  within 
us — the  faith  and  fear  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  I  trust  that 
the  old  proverb  will  be  proved  in  every  one  of  us.  It  cer- 
tainly shall  if  we  be  faithful. 

Ah  !  yes,  it  is  well  meant.  Notice  these  four  quaternions 
of  soldiers  to  keep  Peter.      The  night  was  divided  into  four 


72       JAMES  AND  PETER,  AND  HEEOD  AND  GOD. 

parts  of  three  hours  each,  and  each  three  hours  had  its 
watch  kept  by  four  men.  Peter,  in  Herod's  estimation, 
was  as  good  as  dead.  He  only  waited  the  time  to  bring 
him  forth  and  kill  him  with  the  necessary  eclat.  Peter 
therefore  was  kept  in  prison  ;  "  but  prayer  was  made  with- 
out ceasing  of  the  Church  unto  God  for  him."  Notice  the 
contrast  now.  See  the  strength  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
seeming  feebleness  on  the  other.  Look  at  the  world,  as 
represented  by  Herod,  and  the  soldiers,  and  the  executioners. 
Herod  has  all  the  say,  and  Herod  has  all  the  sway.  And 
how  is  the  Church  represented  ?  Why,  instead  of  meeting 
plot  with  plot — instead  of  the  clashing  of  steel  upon  steel — 
instead  of  the  meeting  of  power  with  power,  there  you  have 
insulting,  towering  Herod,  and  the  seemingly  cowering 
Church  down  upon  her  knees  in  prayer.  You  say,  **  How 
fatuous,  how  feeble,  how  assuredly  contemptible  is  that ! 
Will  that  have  the  slightest  effect  upon  Herod's  power  and 
Herod's  purpose  ?  Will  that  have  the  slightest  effect  upon 
Peter's  perilous  position?  Prayer  was  made  by  a  few 
feeble  men.  I  do  not  suppose  that  there  was  a  good 
swordsman  among  them.  He  who  had  tried  it  once  and 
not  made  much  at  it,  even  Peter,  was  in  prison.  The  man 
who  missed  the  High  Priest's  servant's  head  and  managed 
to  cut  off  an  ear,  which  was  seemingly  the  only  feat  of 
swordsmanship  that  the  Apostles  ever  mustered  up  among 
them,  was  flung  aside.  There  was  not  a  brave  man  as  the 
world  counts  bravery — not  a  likely  man  among  them ;  no 
plan  of  campaign  ;  and  so  weak,  and  destitute,  and  feeble  ! 
a  company  of  obscure  men  and  still  obscurer  women.  And 
what  God  wanted  was  to  see  that  prayer  was  made  with- 
out ceasing  by  this  little  company  unto  God  for  him.  That 
is  one  of  the  texts  that  invite  discussion.      A  shaft  should 


JAMES  AND  PETEK,  AND  HEKOD  AND  GOD.       73 

be  sunk  there,  and  the  farther  down  you  go  the  richer  will 
be  the  ore  through  which  you  work  your  way.    Ah  !  friends, 
that  is  the  situation  yet.     There  is  the  secret  of  the  Church's 
life.     There  is  the  reason  why,  all  the  might  and  malice  of 
men  and  devils  notwithstanding,  the  Church  lives — because 
her  hfe  is  fed  through  an  invisible  source,  and  essentially  is 
indestructible.    The  day  will  come  when  men  will  laugh  that 
ever  the  idea  was  entertained  that  the  Church  of  Christ 
could  be  blotted  out,  or  hindered  even  for  an  hour.     It  is 
coming,  but  we  might  see  it  some  of  us  better  than  we  do, 
and  be  more  brightened  and  hopeful  than  we  are.      We 
might  be  a  little  more  optimistic,  might  we  not  ?  or,  as  good 
old  Dr.  Cuyler  said  in  my  hearing  the  other  day,  "  I  cannot 
say  that  I  am  an  optimist :  I  have  lived  too  long  and  I  have 
seen  too  much  wickedness  and  too  many  disappointments 
for  that,  but  I  have  determined  to  be  a  brave  and  cheery  and 
hopeful  pessimist."     Surely  these  two  things  are  very  much 
the   same,   are   they   not?      '*  Prayer  was  made  without 
ceasing     of    the    Church   unto     God     for    him."      There 
lies   the   Church's  strength.      There    lies   the  individual's 
strength.     As  we  said  on  Wednesday  evening  in  connection 
with  Moses  at  the  wells  of  Marah,  so  we  say  again,  the 
wisest  thing  in  the  Church's  policy  always  is  prayer  to  God ; 
not  conferences,  not  consultations,  not  gathering  together 
her  wisest   heads,   her   strongest   arms,   and  her  stoutest 
hearts.     The  best  thing  to  do  always  for  the  Church   and 
for  the  individual   is   to  go  down  on  your  knees  and  cry 
straight  up  to  God.     Then  you  are  in  contact  with  eternal 
wisdom,  and  your  weakness  lays  hold  of  Almighty  strength. 
That  weak  company  had  in  their  midst  the  Arm  that  sways 
the   world.      That  w^eak  company  had  in  their  midst  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel.     The  Arm  that  split  the  Ked  Sea  and 


74       JAMES  AND  PETER,  AND  HEEOD  AND  GOD. 

overwhelmed  Pharaoh's  hosts  was  among  them.  The  mind 
and  heart  that  control  all  things  was  there  among  that 
feeble  company  of  praying  folk. 

The  Lord  is  with  us ;  and  if  He  is  not  always  with  us  as  at 
Sinai,  a  terror  to  all  beholders.  He  still  is  with  us.  God  is 
with  us.  "  And  when  Herod  would  have  brought  Peter 
forth,"  he  could  not.  That  is  just  how  it  reads.  When  Herod 
would,  he  could  not.  When,  when,  when  you  are  going  to  be 
rolled  over  and  butchered  somehow  or  other,  then,  then,  then 
you  are  not.  The  unexpected  happens,  and  the  expected 
does  not  happen.  Just  between  the  cup  and  the  lip  in  comes 
the  Almighty  hand.  Down  goes  the  cup.  Just  in  the  nick 
of  time.  God  likes  to  do  a  near  thing.  God  likes  to  let 
Herod  out  on  a  long  chain,  and  then,  when  Herod  thinks 
that  he  is  as  good  as  God,  He  pulls  him  in  hand  over  hand, 
and  flings  him  contemptuously  behind  Him,  to  let  all  men 
know  and  see  that  verily  there  is  a  God  that  judgeth  in  the 
earth.  Verily,  sin  and  Satan  are  measured,  and  mapped, 
and  noted,  and  limited,  and  though  hand  join  in  hand, 
God  has  set  their  bounds,  and  beyond  these  they  cannot 
pass. 

"  "When  Herod  would  have  brought  him  forth,  the  same 
night  Peter  was  sleeping  between  two  soldiers,  bound  with 
two  chains :  and  the  keepers  before  the  door  kept  the 
prison."  What  a  prisoner  he  was  !  Think  of  him :  there  were 
two  chains ;  and  there  were  four  men  there  in  front.  You 
say  again,  and  again,  and  again,  "  What  a  mistake  it  is  to 
be  a  Christian.  What  a  poor  life  it  is  to  be  a  believer. 
Here  is  what  it  comes  to.  Poor  Peter,  you  should  have 
stayed  by  your  boat  and  your  nets.  This  is  all  that  you 
have  made  out  of  it :  The  two  soldiers  and  the  two  chains, 
and   the   quaternion   of    soldiers  keeping   the  front  door. 


JAMES  AND  PETER,  AND  HEKOD  AND  GOD.       75 

Lost,   hopeless,    helpless,   immured,    shut   up,  as  good  a#s 
dead."     We  shall  see. 

"  And,  behold,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  upon  him,  and 
a  light  shined  in  the  prison :  and  he  smote  Peter  on  the 
side,  and  raised  him  up,  saying.  Arise  up  quickly.  And  his 
chains  fell  off  from  his  hands.  And  the  angel  said  unto 
him,  Gird  thyself,  and  bind  on  thy  sandals.  And  so  he 
did.  And  he  said  unto  him.  Cast  thy  garment  about  thee, 
and  follow  me.  And  he  went  out,  and  followed  him ;  and 
wist  not  that  it  was  true  which  was  done  by  the  angel ; 
but  thought  he  saw  a  vision."  Quicker  than  I  can  tell  it, 
all  this  imprisonment  and  all  these  careful  arrangements 
are  just  turned  into  contempt.  "  He  that  sitteth  in  the 
heavens  shall  laugh.  The  Lord  shall  have  them  in  de- 
rision." In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  this 
oppression  of  the  poor  and  the  sighing  of  the  needy  shall  be 
done  away  with.  **  Now  will  I  arise,  saith  the  Lord ;  I  will 
set  him  in  safety  from  him  that  puffeth  at  him."  That  is  how 
God  does — your  God  and  mine.  He  will  meet  might  with 
might,  scorn  with  scorn,  laugh  with  laugh,  and  He  will  laugh 
last,  for  He  wins.  You  cannot  read  it  without  feeling  the 
contempt  that  God  pours  upon  this  Herod,  and  at  last  He 
gets  him  eaten  with  worms  in  the  very  hour  of  his  highest 
might.  And  again  I  say,  and  I  say  it  deliberately  and 
solemnly,  it  is  this  God  with  whom  we  have  to  do.  And 
hark  you,  my  friend,  hark  you,  young  man,  if  you  are 
not  trusting  this  eternal  Jehovah,  you  are  a  fool.  Suffer  a 
plain  word  from  the  man  who  loves  you.  If  you 
are  not  lying  on  His  arm,  you  are  the  biggest  fool  out 
of  Bedlam.  To  be  sitting  there,  in  possession  of  intelli- 
gence, and  not  to  be  on  God's  side,  stamps  this  upon  you — 
that  you  must  be  out  of  your  mind.     You  are  demented. 


76       JAMES  AND  PETER,  AND  HEEOD  AND  GOD. 

You  do  not  know  the  situation.  Understand  it,  and  change 
your  attitude,  for  there  are  no  middle  courses.  You  are 
either  with  Peter  or  with  Herod.  In  these  piping  times  of 
peace,  when,  alas !  alas!  our  great  danger  is,  that  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  Church  and  the  world  is  somewhat 
obliterated,  many  people  fancy  that  there  is  a  middle  com^se, 
and  they  say,  "  Well,  we  are  not  going  in  for  the  full  curri- 
culum that  Peter  went  in  for;  but  surely  times  are  changed, 
and  less  will  do."  Well,  you  may  try  it,  but  you  will  not 
live  to  prove  that  you  have  succeeded.  You  cannot  serve 
God  and  mammon.  Art  thou  for  us  or  for  our  adversaries 
— yes  or  no  ?  Not  to  me,  but  to  the  Captain  of  the  Lord's 
host.       For  us,  or  for  our  adversaries? 

"  The  angel  of  the  Lord  came  upon  him."  These  are  the 
resources  that  are  at  God's  command.  One  can  hardly 
speak  in  the  nineteenth  century  about  angels.  We  have 
got  so  materialistic;  we  have  got  so  "advanced."  "Oh, 
supernatural  stories  !  "  Men  come  to  us  with  hypocritical 
faces,  and  say,  "  Well,  preacher,  you  know,  if  you  would 
suppress  these  things,  if  you  would  suppress  this  about 
angels — whoever  saw  an  angel  ?  "  Well,  you  never  did. 
"  If  you  would  suppress  all  this  about  angels,  and  about 
heavenly  powers,  and  about  interference  with  the  natural 
order  of  things,  and  reduce  your  Book  to  what  undoubtedly 
is  in  it — a  very  valuable  collection  of  ethical  maxims — well, 
then,  we  might  accept  it."  Thank  you,  sir,  for  nothing. 
If  we  could  take  all  the  bones  out  of  it,  what  a  beau- 
tiful jelly-fish  it  would  be.  No,  we  keep  in  the  miraculous. 
It  is  the  very  binding  of  the  Book.  It  is  the  very  strength 
and  mainstay  of  Eevelation.  It  is  all  mi  raculous.  "An  angel 
came."  I  asked  once  before,  and  I  take  the  liberty  of  asking 
again  in  a  company  of  Christian  people,  Do  we  believe  in 


JAMES  AND  PETEK,  AND  HEROD  AND  GOD.       77 

angels  yet  ?  The  Bible  comes  to  us  and  says,  "Now,  friend, 
do  you  believe  this?"  Do  you  believe  this  marvellous, 
miraculous  interposition  ?  Do  you  believe  in  these  heavenly 
messengers  of  the  heavenly  King — angels  round  about  us, 
having  charge  given  to  them  concerning  us — ministering 
spirits  to  salvation's  heirs  ? 

"  How  oft  do  they  their  silver  bowers  leave, 

To  come  and  succour  us  that  succour  want ! 
How  oft  do  they  on  golden  pinions  cleave 

The  yielding  skies,  like  flying  pursuivant : 
Against  foul  fiends  to  aid  us  militant. 

They  for  us  fight ;  they  watch  and  duly  ward, 
And  their  bright  squadrons  round  about  us  plant. 

And  all  for  love  and  nothing  for  reward  ; 
Oh,  why  should  heavenly  God  to  men  have  such  regard  ? " 

Yes,  "He  shall  give  His  angels  charge  over  thee  to  keep 
thee."  Many  a  time  Peter  had  read  and  sung  that  Psalm  ; 
but  the  day  came  when  the  promise  leaped  upon  his  soul 
"with  such  life  and  meaning  as  it  never  had  before.  That 
day  is  coming,  if  not  sooner,  then  certainly  on  the  eternal 
morning,  when  we  shall  see  that  we  had  more  servants  to 
wait  upon  us  than  we  took  knowledge  of,  and  we  were  far 
safer  than  ever  we  had  allowed  ourselves  to  think.  The 
angels  are  here  still,  although  we  do  not  see  them. 
Although  they  do  not  come  into  actual  contact  with  us,  and 
with  gracious  violence  smite  our  sides  and  waken  us  up, 
and  lead  us  forth  past  all  peril  into  space  and  safety,  still 
unseen  they  stand  about  us ;  and  still  God  has  a  thousand 
thousand  resources  at  His  hand  for  the  marvellous  pre- 
servation of  His  people.  "  We  are  immortal  till  our  work 
is  done."  Fire  shall  not  burn  upon  us,  waters  shall  not 
drown  us,  plague  shall  not  strike  us,  until  God  in  His 
unerring  mercy  sees  fit — not  one  of  us. 


78       JAMES  AND  PETEB,  AND  HEROD  AND  GOD. 

**  Not  a  single  shaft  shall  hit 
Till  the  God  of  love  sees  fit." 

We  are  invulnerable  as  long  as  God  means  us  to  be  here, 
and  as  long  as  we  are  helping  in  all  our  feebleness  to  carry 
on  His  despised  and  persecuted  cause. 

Let  me  interject  just  here,  for  we  are  apt  to  forget  these 
things.  Again  I  say,  the  nineteenth  century  is  apt  quietly 
to  sneer  us  out  of  our  faith  in  them.  We  feel  the  blush 
incHned  to  steal  upon  our  cheeks,  and  ''with  bated  breath  and 
whispering  humbleness  "  we  would  allow  judgment  to  go  by 
default,  for  we  do  not  like  to  say  that  we  do  believe  in  this 
miraculous  story,  or  in  the  others  in  this  Book,  or  in  the 
Old  Testament.  You  remember,  my  dear  hearers,  how  it 
was  with  Peden,  our  great  prophet,  in  the  killing  times  in 
Scotland,  when  King  James  was  the  Herod.  (No  wonder, 
my  Episcopalian  friends,  that  we  Scotch  take  ill  with 
Prelacy.  It  was  badly  recommended  to  us.)  Why,  you 
remember  in  the  killing  times  once,  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  poor  Peden,  for  the  faith  and  fear  of  Jesus  Christ, 
was  being  persecuted  with  a  little  band  of  his  followers  to 
whom  he  had  been  preaching  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth 
in  the  south  of  Scotland.  They  were  alarmed  in  time,  and 
they  made  a  struggle  for  existence.  They  made  a  rush  for 
safety.  Their  pursuers,  being  horsemen,  gained  upon  them; 
and  when  Peden  and  his  little  band  had  gone  down  into  the 
hollow  of  a  hill,  for  want  of  breath,  and  for  want  of  hope,  he 
called  a  halt,  and  then  he  uttered  a  memorable  prayer.  '*  0 
God,"  he  said,  "  it  is  the  day  and  the  hour  of  the  power  of 
Thine  enemies.  They  may  not  be  idle,  but  hast  Thou  no 
other  work  for  them  than  to  send  them  after  us  ?  Send 
them  to  pursue  those  to  whom  Thou  wilt  give  strength 
to  flee ;    but   as  for  us,  our  strength  is  gone.       Twine 


JAMES  AND  PETER,  AND  HEKOD  AND  GOD        79 

them,"  he  said,  **  round  the  hill,  0  Lord,  and  cast  the  lap 
of  Thy  cloak  round  Sandy  and  these  puir  things,  and  we 
shall  tell  to  Thy  praise  and  glory  what  Thou  didst  for  us  at 
sic  a  time."  As  surely  as  he  prayed,  one  of  those  sudden, 
dangerous,  blinding  mists,  for  which  our  Cheviot  Hills 
are  famous,  came  down  upon  them.  Their  enemies, 
with  curses,  thundered  past  them,  through  the  mist, 
and  never  saw  them.  Do  you  believe  that  ?  Think 
over  it. 

"  He  went  out,  and  followed  him ;  and  wist  not  that  it 
was  true  which  was  done  by  the  angel ;  but  thought  he  saw 
a  vision.  When  they  were  past  the  first  and  second  ward, 
they  came  unto  the  iron  gate  that  leadeth  unto  the  city ; 
which  opened  to  them  of  his  own  accord :  and  they  went 
out,  and  passed  on  through  one  street ;  and  forthwith  the 
angel  departed  from  him." 

May  we  go  forth  with  him.  Commentators  and  others 
have  dwelt  over  this  part  of  the  story  in  a  kind  of  mystic 
way  which  I  think  is  allowable.  They  have  left  the  actual, 
historical  treatment  of  the  narrative  here,  and  they  have 
likened  this  smiting  by  the  angel  upon  the  side  of  Peter  and 
wakening  him,  and  Peter's  going  forth,  seeing  as  though  he 
saw  not,  and  hearing  as  though  he  heard  not,  ahve,  and 
well,  and  free,  to  that  heavenly  visitation,  which,  sooner  or 
later,  is  coming  to  you  and  me.  For,  after  all,  what  is 
our  earthly  life  but  a  prison  house,  in  which  we  are  chained 
up  in  this  body  of  the  flesh,  kept  back  from  full  freedom 
and  perfect  vision  ?  Life  is  the  jailor,  death  the  angel  sent 
to  draw  the  unwilling  bolts,  and  set  us  free.  Some  day 
— God  bless  you,  my  friend,  you  with  the  whitening  head — 
all  your  tribulations,  and  all  your  cramps  and  hindrances 
will  be  removed.     The  heavenly  Jerusalem,  the  home  and 


80        JAMES  AND  PETER,  AND  HEEOD  AND  GOD. 

reward  of  the  faithful  and  true,  "  the  land  o'  the  leal,"  is 

always  near. 

"For  Sorrow's  sel'  wears  past, 
And  Joy's  comin'  fast — 
The  joy  that's  aye  to  last 
In  the  land  o'  the  leal." 

God's  last  and  brightest  messenger,  in  somewhat  grim 
disguise,  the  angel  of  death,  will  come  and  gently  smite  you 
into  life  ;  and,  lo !  you  shall  rise  and  leave  all  your  chains 
and  hindrances  behind  you.  Your  feet  shall  stand  within 
the  City  of  the  Blessed  One,  or  ever  you  are  aware.  The 
iron  gate  shall  open  of  its  own  accord.  You  shall  be  in 
heaven  before  you  know  what  struck  you.  As  with  Peter, 
at  the  first,  as  he  went  into  the  city,  there  will  be  a  vague- 
ness, a  wonder,  an  astonishment ;  and  then,  at  last,  the 
breaking  of  'the  full,  perfect  understanding,  "  O  God,  I  am 
in  heaven  !  O  God,  I  am  saved !  O  God,  through 
fire  and  water  Thou  hast  brought  me  to  the  wealthy  place  ! 
I  am  redeemed,  and  disenchanted,  and  disenthralled.  I 
have  risen  superior  to  all  those  things  that  sought  my  life. 
I — wonder  of  wonders — even  I,  noted,  and  marked,  and 
sealed  many  a  time  by  sin  and  the  devil  for  death  and  de- 
struction— I,  even  I,  walk  abroad  at  large  and  in  perfect 
liberty."  That  is  coming.  Let  us  believe  it.  Let  us  hold 
on  to  it.  The  best  way  to  show  our  faith  in  the  great 
deliverance  that  is  coming  is  to  lay  firmer  hold  on  Jesus 
Christ  this  very  morning,  and  go  out  there,  outside  the 
camp,  bearing  His  cross,  sharing  His  persecution  ;  for  if  we 
are  one  with  Him  in  His  tribulation,  we  shall  also  be  one 
with  Him  in  the  eternal  triumph. 

May  God  bless  this  study  of  His  Word  ! 

Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  3  &  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


P^gent  gquaa  $u\^it 


COME!     COMB!    COME  I 


Pbeached  in  Eegent  Squaee  Presbyterian 
Church,  London, 


REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


Text— "And  the  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that 
heareth  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come.  And  whosoever 
will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." — Rev.  xxii.  17. 

The  great  purpose  of  all  Gospel  meetings  and  of  all  Gospel 
preaching  is  just  to  lift  up  the  voice,  and  to  say  to  those 
who  have  never  yet  done  so,  "  Come  to  Jesus  " ;  and  to 
say  to  those  who  have  come,  "  Come  still  closer."  For 
there  are  none  of  us,  those  of  us  who  have  known  Him 
longest,  and  have  served  Him  best,  whose  ways  might  not 
be  both  mended  and  ended  at  the  same  time  if  we  could 
stand  more  four-square  to  Christ's  Word  and  to  Christ's 
service  than  we  have  ever  yet  done.  May  the  Lord  help  us 
to-night,  as  we  take  this  text,  and  use  it  in  this  twofold  way, 
simply  ringing  the  changes  on  this  note,  *'  Come  to  Jesus." 
There  is  another  view  of  these  "  Comes" — viz.,  that  they 
are  spoken  not  outivard  to  the  human  soul,  but  upward  to 
the  ascended  and  returning  Lord.  "  Come  Thou."  Well,  be 
it  so ;    still,  don't  they  ring  out  very  freely  towards  the 

Vol  HI.— No.  6. 


82  COME  !    COME  !    COME  ! 

sinner  also?  "  Come  thou  to  Jesus."  "  Lord,  in  my  view 
let  both  united  be,"  let  us  say  with  Doddridge  about 
another  matter. 

There  is  a  certain  amount  of  knowledge  of  the  Gospel 
which  I  shall  take  for  granted.  You  know  who  He  is 
to  whom  you  are  now  invited.  I  am  not  speaking  to  those 
who  never  heard  His  name.  I  am  speaking  to  those  who 
have  heard  of  Him  for  years.  Most  of  us  knew  His  name 
before  we  knew  our  own ;  and  therefore,  I  say,  I  shall  take 
for  granted  a  large  amount  of  knowledge  of  what  is  the  very 
sum  and  substance  of  Eevelation,  namely,  that  God  so 
loved  the  world,  that  He  sent  His  only  begotten  Son  into  it 
— that  is  Jesus  Christ,  whom  I  am  preaching  to-night — that 
whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life.  We  stand  on  that  common  platform  of 
head  knowledge  of  Christ,  of  sin,  of  salvation.  I  have 
simply  to  do  this  in  the  help  and  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
— urge,  plead,  appeal  to  men  and  women  to  come  to  Christ 
— to  come  across  all  intervening  distance  of  thought,  and 
of  want  of  decision  between  you  and  Him,  and  to  let  your 
heart  come  into  living  contact  with  His  heart  as  it  goes  out 
to  you  in  this  Gospel  appeal — from  His  own  mind  and 
mouth,  shall  I  say? — "  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come. 
And  let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  is 
athirst  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water 
of  life  freely." 

The  setting  of  the  text  about  which  I  am  always 
anxious — the  context — seems  to  be  this.  The  Bible  is 
coming  to  an  end.  This  last  writer  seems  to  know  that 
he  is  finishing  the  record  of  Eevelation,  and  not  unlike 
ourselves  when  we  have  been  writing  to  some  friend,  and 
have  written  at  considerable  length  and  with  considerable 


COME  !    COME  !    COME  I  83 

circumstance  and  detail,  we  suddenly  "  shorten"  our  style. 
We  grip  the  pen  more  firmly,  and  hurry  along  the  pages 
more  rapidly,  saying,  "But  what  needs  many  words?  I 
will  not  take  further  time  to  give  details,  because  I  am  so 
soon  to  see  you."  So  this  last  writer  in  the  Bible  seems  to 
end  up  by  saying,  "What  is  the  use  of  longer  writing? 
What  is  the  use  of  more  length  ?  The  Lord  will  soon  be 
here";  and  the  very  style  of  the  chapter  gets  a  little  broken, 
more  short,  and  sharp,  and  pithy,  and  sententious,  just  like 
the  style  of  one  who  is  hurrying  his  sentences  down  to  the 
end  because  there  is  not  much  use  of  writing  any  more.  He 
says,  "He  that  is  unjust,  let  him  be  unjust  still;  and  he 
who  is  filthy,  let  him  wallow  a  little  longer  in  his  filth. 
And  he  that  is  righteous,  let  him  hold  on  like  grim  death 
to  righteousness  still ;  he  that  is  holy,  let  him  be  holy  still ! 
For  it  is  but  a  little  while,  and  then  the  Lord  will  be  here  : 
the  dispensation  will  be  wound  up.  The  holy  shall  go  to  the 
mansions  of  bliss,  and  the  unholy,  the  unbelievers,  and  the 
neglecters,  and  rejecters,  and  despisers  of  the  day  of  grace, 
and  of  the  grace  itself,  shall  go  to  the  place  which  they 
chose."  So  he  gets  sharp  and  abrupt ;  and  when  he  comes 
to  our  text,  he  writes  it  as  though  he  were  writing  the  last 
Gospel  invitation,  and  knew  that  it  was  to  be  the  last,  and 
once  for  all  he  puts  it  as  simply  and  clearly  as  possible. 
He  rings  the  changes  on  it,  knowing  that  this  is  the  last 
ring  of  the  Gospel  bell,  "The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say.  Come. 
And  let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  is 
athirst  come."  And  then  he  changes  the  figure,  for  even 
the  Holy  Ghost  can  make  it  no  plainer  along  that  line, 
and  He  says,  "  Whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water 
of  life  freely." 

Now,  let  us  all  believe  these  things.     This  is  the  last 


84  COME  !    COME  !    COME  ! 

utterance  ;  this  is  the  last  word.  The  Gospel  record  is  just 
about  to  close,  and  there  is  a  short  while,  a  little  time,  in 
which  to  say  anything.  Ah !  have  you  ever  thought  of  that? 
Have  you  ever  thought  of  the  lesson  that  comes  out,  not 
simply  of  what  is  written  down  from  Genesis  to  the  end  of 
Eevelation ;  but  have  you  ever  thought  of  the  lesson  that 
comes  to  us  out  of  the  silence  of  all  these  nineteen  hundred 
years  ?  That  is  the  last  scratching  of  God's  pen  which  we 
have  read  to-night.  It  is  His  very  last  utterance,  wound  up 
virtually  by  this  :  *'  There  is  no  use  in  saying  any  more,  for 
behold,  I  am  coining  quickly."  Then  there  has  set  in  that 
long  silence.  Never  since  the  world  began  was  silence  held 
so  long.  Never  was  the  world  so  long  without  a  voice  from 
heaven  as  since  these  utterances  were  penned.  It  should 
tell  upon  us  in  this  way.  You  remember  last  summer  one 
afternoon  when  there  came  a  darkness  and  a  stillness — the 
stillness  that  precedes  a  storm  on  a  sultry  July  or  August 
afternoon.  You  know  how  it  tells  upon  you — how  it  gets 
tense  and  intense,  and  man,  beast,  and  bird  alike  feel  it,  and 
the  fish  clap  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  There  is  a 
desperate,  dense,  intense  silence,  and  you  know  that  soon 
there  will  be  a  flash,  and  a  roar  of  thunder.  I  believe  that  God 
wants  us  to  feel  that  in  connection  with  the  silence  since 
this  word  was  uttered.  The  longer  time  goes  on,  the  more 
our  ears  should  be  almost  ready  to  crack  with  the  pain  of 
this  intense  stillness,  which  will  be  broken  soon  by  the  peal- 
ing cry,  *'  Behold,  I  come  !  " 

Nothing  can  exaggerate  or  over-emphasize  the  solemnity 
of  our  text,  with  all  the  added  solemnity  that  comes  from 
the  deep,  solemn  silence  ever  since.  It  will  be  broken.  It 
may  be  very  near.  I  have  no  theories  whatever  about  the 
second  coming.     It  is  coining .     It  is  a  legitimate  thing  to 


COME  !    COME  !    COMB  !  85 

preach,  and  a  legitimate  influence  to  bring  to  bear  upon  the 
hearts  of  men  ;  anything  at  all  that  will  urge  you  to  Christ, 
my  brother,  my  sister ;  any  motive,  earthly  or  heavenly, 
that  will  make  you  yield  and  come  to  Christ — anything 
that  will  do  that — is  God's,  and  not  mine. 

"  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come." — I  vnsh  you  first 
of  all,  dear  friends,  to  notice  the  name  that  stands  at  the 
head  of  this  invitation.  Learn  that  this  name  stands  at  the 
head  of  all  Gospel  texts,  and  that  this  name  is  emblazoned 
over  the  heads  of  all  Gospel  preachers.  We  are  not  simply 
using  our  own  words,  and  speaking  in  our  own  name,  when 
we  say,  "  Quit  the  world,  and  quit  self,  and  quit  sin,  and 
come  to  Jesus  Christ  who  died  on  the  Cross,  and  lives 
again,  and  invites  you.  We  speak  in  a  name  of  great 
authority.     "  The  Spirit  says.  Come." 

This  morning,  as  you  will  bear  me  out,  I  tried  to  do  my 
best  with  one  great  central  truth  of  the  Gospel,  Christ  on 
the  Cross  the  counterpart  of  the  passover  Lamb  in  yon 
chapter  in  Exodus.  I  wish  now  to  bring  before  you  another 
Person  of  the  Trinity,  and  His  place  and  part  in  this  great 
scheme  of  redemption  work,  the  Third  Person,  the  blessed 
Spirit  of  God.  He  is  greatly  forgotten ;  and  be  sure  of  this, 
that  if  we  forget  Him  in  our  preaching  there  will  not  be  any 
work  done  of  the  real  kind — souls  coming  to  Jesus.  The 
great  function  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  to  lift  up  Christ.  His 
work  is  to  save  men  by  human  speech,  by  human  argu- 
ments, by  all  that  is  truly  human  in  me,  or  in  any  other 
servant  and  ambassador  of  the  Cross.  Still,  this  is  His 
crowning  glory,  and  He  will  not  give  it  to  another.  The 
Spirit  says,  "  Come."  My  Christless  friend,  my  vacillat- 
ing friend,  my  undecided  friend,  understand,  please,  once  for 
all,  that  when  the  Gospel  is  preached  to  you,  more  than 


86  COME  !    COME  !    COME  ! 

man  is  at  work  on  you.  There  are  two  of  us  at  work  on  thee, 
O  Christless  soul :  I,  here;  and  He,  the  blessed  Spirit,  work- 
ing where  I  cannot  go,  with  His  Divine  fingers  trying  all  the 
locks,  and  springs,  and  strings  of  that  complex  mechanism — 
the  mind,  and  heart,  and  imagination,  and  conscience  of  a 
man.  The  Spirit  is  sounding  in  the  ear  of  your  soul  while 
my  voice  resounds  along  the  outer  lobbies,  so  to  speak.  He 
is  saying,  "  Come,  come  to  Jesus." 

The  Spirit  says,  "  Come."  "When  you  are  invited  to  some 
great  banquet,  you  very  likely  look  down  the  card  of  invita- 
tion in  order  to  see  whose  name  is  at  the  foot  of  it ;  and  if 
the  name  is  a  powerful  name,  you  very  likely  try  and  go. 
If  it  is  not — if  the  name  at  the  foot  is  an  obscure  name,  you 
very  likely  put  the  thing  into  the  waste -paper  basket.  Now, 
this  invitation  is  served  upon  us  to-night  in  all  winsomeness 
and  in  all  gentleness.  Still,  never  forget  that  it  is  served 
on  us  under  very  powerful  and  influential  auspices.  The 
Spirit  says,  **  Come,"  and  it  is  equal  to  a  command.  If  you, 
my  friend,  are  kindly  and  courteously  asked  by  a  letter 
which  has  the  signature  of  her  Majesty  at  the  foot,  no 
matter  how  kind,  and  gentle,  and  courteous  the  tones  of 
that  letter  may  be — if  it  asks  you  to  go  and  dine  at 
Windsor,  please  understand  that  all  royal  askings  are 
commands,  and  you  had  better  go.  So  with  this  Gospel. 
You  had  better  put  off  all  other  invitations,  and  all  other 
engagements,  and  no  matter  how  gently  and  winsomely, 
and  almost  apologetically,  this  invitation  comes,  as  if  it 
simply  wanted  to  take  its  place  among  the  others,  and  there 
were  no  hurry,  never  forget  that  there  is  a  voice  of  royal, 
imperial,  imperious  urgency  and  authority  behind  it.  The 
Gospel  comes  certainly  to  plead,  certainly  to  beseech,  but 
always  and  all  the  time  it  commands  men  everywhere,  as 


COME  !   COME  !   COME  !  87 

the  first  thing,  to  repent  and  come  to  God  in  Christ  while 
there  is  time.  The  Spirit  says,  "  Come."  It  is  He  who 
invites  you  to-night.  Therefore,  I  say,  do  what  you  hke 
with  me ;  do  what  you  Hke  with  my  arguments ;  do  what 
you  like  with  my  way  of  putting  it ;  but,  as  you  value  your 
soul,  see  that  you  refuse  not  Him  that  speaks  from  heaven. 
The  Holy  Ghost  says,  "  Come."  See  that  ye  grieve  not  the 
Holy  Ghost.  "  Quench  not  the  Spirit,"  but  yield.  My 
friend,  you  are  sawing  off  the  branch  that  you  are  sitting 
on,  when  you  resist  the  Spirit  of  God.     Take  care ! 

But,  further,  my  text  says,  "  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say. 
Come."  In  this  expression,  "the  Spirit  and  the  bride,"  you 
have  the  incarnation,  not  now  of  the  Son,  but  a  kind  of 
incarnation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  overcome  an  objection  so 
strong  to  you  and  me,  who  only  believe  to  far  too  great  an 
extent  in  what  we  can  see,  and  hear,  and  handle.  He  says, 
"  Well,  I  will  do  what  I  can  to  be  visible,  and  vocal,  and 
audible,  and  substantial ;  "  and  so  He  incarnates  Himself, 
so  to  speak,  through  the  bride.  And  what  is  the  bride  ? 
Well,  that  is  plain.  All  through  the  Scripture,  Old  Testa- 
ment and  New  Testament  alike,  the  bride  is  spoken  of  as 
the  whole  company  of  God's  true,  saved,  called,  sanctified 
people,  and  what  our  text  simply  means  is  this — that  you 
are  invited,  not  simply  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  for 
that  might  be  too  far  off,  and,  as  I  have  said,  too  hazy  and 
nebulous,  but  it  is  the  Spirit  and  the  bride — the  Spirit  with 
the  bride,  the  Spirit  through  the  bride.  That  is  to  say,  He 
speaks  to-night,  in  the  name  of  all  who  ever  drew  the  breath 
of  everlasting  life.  In  their  name,  in  the  name  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  who  cannot  lie,  and  in  the  name  of  all  whom  He 
has  ever  quickened  and  brought  to  Christ,  you  are  invited 
to  come.     Now,  are  you  not  well  bidden  ?    Just  think  of  it 


88  COME  !    COME  !    COME  ! 

for  one  moment,  and  ought  there  not  to  flash  at  last  upon 
your  soul  this  idea,  the  bond  fides  of  God,  and  of  God's  people 
in  this  matter.  We  are  in  earnest — the  Spirit  and  the  bride ; 
that  is  to  say,  through  me,  through  all  like  me  who  know 
Jesus  Christ  in  their  hearts  as  their  living,  loving  Saviour  by 
practical  experimental  knowledge.  We  are  all  summed  up 
in  this,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  through  us  all  is  inviting  you 
to  come.  I  am  speaking  in  the  name  of  all  who  ever  knew, 
and  loved,  and  trusted  Christ,  whether  they  are  yonder  in 
glory  or  are  now  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  "  The  Spirit 
and  the  bride  say,  Come."  That  is  to  say,  O  hesitating, 
unsaved  men  and  women,  if  I  could  bring  to  this  platform 
to-night  all  the  redeemed  from  glory,  and  all  who  are  now 
living  the  life  of  simple  faith  in  Christ  on  the  earth,  and  if 
they  could  all  come  and  stand  here,  and  if  I  could  say  to 
them,  "  Ye  who  constitute  the  bride,  the  Lamb's  wife, 
there  are  men  and  women  here  who  do  not  know  Christ  yet, 
what  have  you  got  to  say  ?  " — every  hand  would  turn  over 
the  Bible  just  to  where  we  are,  I  believe,  and  every  glorious 
voice  would  be  lifted  up  in  this  one  grand,  ringing  welcome, 
"  '  Come  !  Come  ! '     The  bride  says,  '  Come  to  Christ.'  " 

I  like  it  for  another  reason.  If  you  want  to  hear  a  man 
honestly  praised,  who  should  do  it  but  the  woman  who 
''was  made  his  wedded  wife  yestreen" — his  wife,  his  bride? 
If  you  want  to  hear  Christ  praised,  and  preached,  and  well 
set  off — all  His  charms,  all  His  advantages,  all  that  He  is, 
and  all  that  He  is  worth — who  ought  to  do  it,  do  you  think, 
but  those  of  us  who  know  Him  a  little  ?  He  is  worth  it. 
There  was  a  woman  in  Samaria  who  got  that  idea,  and  she 
ran  away  back  to  the  city,  and  she  said,  "  Come."  It  was 
the  bride  saying,  "  Come."  "  Come,"  she  said — **  Come,  see 
a  man  who  told  me  all  that  ever  I  did.     Is  not  this  the 


COME  !   COME  !   COME  !  89 

Christ?"  And  the  whole  city  came  out  to  see  that  Man. 
Oh,  I  wish  that  I  had  the  tongue  of  men,  and  angels,  and 
of  women  like  her  of  Samaria,  to  set  off  Christ  Himself, 
the  graces,  and  dignities,  and  glories  of  His  person,  and 
character,  and  work.  I  cannot  do  it.  Time  would  fail,  and 
tongue  would  fail ;  and  I  am  not  asked  to  do  it.  But  this 
is  what  I  am  asked  to  do  in  the  Spirit's  name — and  He 
speaks  for  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  in  the  name  of  all 
of  us  who  know  Him — Sinner,  sinner,  do  you  hear  me? 
Lend  me  your  ear,  and  I  will  put  this  word  into  it :  Come 
to  Christ.  He  is  not  a  cloud;  He  is  not  a  mist;  He  is 
not  a  fog-bank;  but  He  is  a  glorious  human  Divine 
Person,  who  can  be  known  and  loved.  Come,  O  come 
to  Jesus.  I  am  speaking  in  the  name  of  the  bride; 
therefore,  I  am  speaking  to  some  of  you  in  the  name  of  your 
dead  father,  in  the  name  of  your  dead  mother.  When  your 
father  died  years  ago,  or  when  your  mother  died,  you  stood 
at  the  bedside,  and  then  the  last  thing  that  you  promised 
was,  that  you  would  come  to  Jesus.  I  am  speaking  in  the 
name  of  your  departed  glorified  father,  your  glorified  mother. 
With  something  of  their  own  reproach  and  pained  surprise, 
I  am  saying  to  you,  "  What,  John,  John  !  What,  Mary,  not 
saved  yet !  not  come  to  Christ  yet !  Still  living  in  the  giddy, 
dizzy  round  of  the  world?"  "The  Spirit  and  the  bride 
say,  Come." 

Then,  going  on  with  this  same  note,  "  Let  him  that 
heareth  say.  Come" — what  does  that  mean?  I  have 
indicated  it  a  little  already.  It  is  just  this.  From  the 
point  of  view  of  this  chapter — from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
actual  fact  and  circumstance  as  represented  by  the  Bible, 
and  by  God  who  stands  behind  the  Bible— the  whole 
work  that   lies  to   our  hand   in   the   little  while,   is  just 


90  COME  !    COME  !    COME  I 

to  get  men  and  women  to  come  to  Christ,  and  to 
get  them  to  come  still  more  largely.  And  in  order 
to  do  that  work,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  willing  to  give, 
shall  I  say,  with  reverence,  a  roving  commission  to 
anybody,  to  everybody  ?  The  work  is  so  urgent,  the  time 
is  so  short,  the  area  is  so  large,  that  he  that  heareth  is 
entitled  to  go  and  say  to  another,  "  Come  to  my  Saviour." 
The  time  is  coming  when  a  man  shall  no  longer  say  to  his 
brother,  "  Know  the  Lord,  for  all  shall  know  Him,  from  the 
least  even  to  the  greatest."  That  will  never  be  brought 
about  by  your  coming  to  Eegent  Square  once  a  week  and 
going  home  again.  Scarcely.  That  is  the  English  of  it, 
and  the  Hebrew  of  it,  and  the  Greek  of  it.  This  London 
will  never  be  evangelized,  my  friends,  at  that  pace  and  at 
that  rate.  It  was  not  simply  that  you  and  I  might  come 
and  hear  Gospel  preaching  and  go  home  again  that  Christ 
died  and  went  to  the  glory,  and  poured  out  His  spirit,  and 
sent  forth  the  ambassadors  of  the  Cross.  No,  verily ;  but 
if  you  know  Him  yourself,  "let  him  that  heareth  say.  Come." 
That  is  your  work,  that  is  your  commission,  whether  you 
are  ordained  or  unordained — whether  the  hands  of  the 
Presbytery  have  been  laid  on  you  or  not.  The  Lord  wants 
a  great  many  irregulars  and  volunteers  as  well  as  a  standing 
army.  For  the  standing  army  evidently  is  never  going  to 
overtake  the  work.  Go  and  preach.  *'  Let  him  that 
heareth  say.  Come." 

How  are  we  to  do  it  ?  I  stand  here,  and  I  charge  some 
of  you,  and  I  wish  you  to  take  in  the  charge — I  do  it  lightly, 
even  at  my  heaviest — it  will  be  done  yon  day  with  tremend- 
ous force — I  am  afraid  that  I  am  within  the  truth  when  I 
charge  some  of  you,  who  yourselves  have  a  sneaking  interest 
in  Jesus  Christ,  that  you  never  yet  have  broken  breath  to 


COME  !    COME  !    COME !  91 

urge  the  face  of  clay  to  come  to  Him.  Never  yet.  "  Well, 
but,"  you  say,  **  preacher — well,  you  are  right  in  the  main, 
but  you  have  no  consideration.  You  know,  preacher,  that 
I  am  not  a  speaker."  Speaker  ?  You  are  far  too  much  of 
a  speaker,  that  is  what  is  troubling  you.  Surely  you  could 
say,  Come,  if  you  can  speak  at  all :  could  you  not  ?  And 
that  is  your  text,  and  you  are  to  stick  to  it,  and  you  are  not 
to  try  and  divide  it  into  one,  two,  three,  and  an  application. 
It  will  not  divide.  Bless  God,  we  have  got  such  a  simple 
text  and  such  a  simple  sermon,  that  we  have  just  to  give  it 
as  we  have  got  it,  "  Come."  Do  not  argue.  Do  not  try  to 
be  clever.  Above  all,  do  not  try  to  preach  a  modern  sermon, 
and  do  not  try  to  be  eloquent,  and  it  will  be  wonderful  how 
very  eloquent  you  will  be  when  you  are  not  trying  to  be,  but 
are  just  standing  with  kindling  voice,  and  kindling  eye,  and 
kindling  heart  at  a  street  corner  or  in  some  quiet  lodging, 
sitting  face  to  face  with  a  friend,  and  saying,  "  Come,  man. 
Come,  John,  come  to  Christ."  I  tell  you  that  that  has 
saved  men  when  eloquent  sermons  have  done  nothing. 
"Let  him  that  heareth  say.  Come."  You  could  surely  do 
that. 

"  Oh,"  you  say,  "  I — I  do  not  like  to  speak,  and  I — I  am 
one  of  the  quiet  kind,  who  say  so  little."  Yes,  very  likely, 
because  you  have  nothing  to  say.  Is  not  that  why  ?  My 
dear  friend,  if  you  know  Christ,  how  can  you  hold  your 
tongue — if  you  really  know  Him  ?  We  are  forgetting  what 
He  said  Himself  in  Israel.  You  remember  how  the  children 
began  to  shout  and  cry.  They  got  enthusiastic  in  their 
glad,  free,  untrammelled,  unencumbered  way.  The  children 
sang  and  shouted,  and  praised  Him;  and  you  remember 
what  He  said  when  they  rebuked  them.  He  said,  "If  these 
should  hold  their  peace,  the  stones  would  immediately  cry 


92  COME  !    COME  !    COME ! 

out."  You  are  worse  than  the  stones,  for  you  stand  on  the 
top  of  them  and  will  not  let  them  speak !  Oh,  speak  out 
His  name  if  you  know  it.  Go  away  down  this  week  and  be 
the  evangelist  of  this  roving  commission,  and  say,  "Gome." 
Again,  I  say,  don't  orate  or  imitate.  Make  no  man  your 
master,  but  right  out  of  your  own  tongue  and  heart,  say, 
"  Come."  There  was  a  lad — I  think  it  was  in  London,  or 
I  may  be  mistaken — perhaps  it  was  in  the  West  of  England 
— and  one  Sunday  evening  he  was  going  stroHing  along  the 
street,  maybe,  as  you  were  doing  before  you  came  in  here, 
and  a  lady  met  him,  and  that  lady  who  met  him  simply 
said  to  him,  **  Come  " — it  was  not  even  "  Come  to  Christ  " — 
it  was,  "Come  and  hear  the  minister" — the  servant;  and 
he  did.  He  just  yielded,  and  he  came  to  the  servant,  and 
while  the  servant  was  speaking,  he  heard  the  Master's  voice, 
and  he  gave  his  heart  to  Christ ;  and  the  upshot  of  it  was, 
that  that  apprentice  lad  who  was  asked  simply  to  come,  and 
who  came,  turned  out  to  be  that  missionary  whose  martyr- 
blood  became  the  seed  of  the  Church  in  far-off  Erromanga. 
I  tell  you  that  heaven  works  behind  the  man  who  in 
sincerity  and  truth  says,  "  Come  to  Jesus."  **  And  let  him 
that  is  athirst  come."  Not  done  yet.  It  is  a  wonderful 
text  this.  "  Let  him  that  is  athirst  come."  What  does 
that  mean  ?  Well,  I  think  that  it  means  this  :  you  are  not 
needing  to  be  asked  to  come  if  you  are  athirst.  What  thirst 
does  when  it  comes  into  your  throat,  spiritual  anxiety 
should  do  when  it  comes  into  your  heart.  Now,  what  does 
thirst  in  the  throat  do  ?  Is  not  thirst  in  the  throat,  when  it 
manifests  itself,  just  an  unspoken  invitation  to  come  and 
drink?  And  you  obey  that  invitation.  So  let  him  that  is 
spiritually  athirst.  It  is  a  word  addressed  to  those 
who  are  anxious — I  trust  the  great  bulk  of  the  meeting. 
You  are  anxious,  you  say,  to  be  a  Christian:  you 
would  like  to  come.  Well,  there  is  the  text,  "  Let  him 
that  is  athirst  come."  What  is  hindering  you?  The 
Lord  has  brought  you  a  long  way  forward,  my  friend,  if 


COME  !   COME  !   COME  !  93 

you  are  really  anxious — if  you  are  really  wanting  to  be 
saved.  John  Bunyan  tells  us  that  he  was  in  such  a  state 
about  sin  that  he  envied  the  crows  upon  the  ploughed  land, 
because  they  were  not  sinners  against  the  Holy  God,  and 
he  was.  God  may  not  let  loose  such  terrors  upon  your 
soul,  for  you  are  not  John  Bunyan :  you  are  only  John 
Brown,  a  far  smaller  man ;  and  if  God  let  loose  upon  you 
the  pains  and  pangs  of  the  world  to  come,  He  would  drive 
you  to  despair.  Thank  God  that  He  does  not  demand  from 
all  of  us  that  amount  of  anxiety  that  He  produces  in  others. 
But  are  you  anxious  ?  Have  you  an  honest  desire  to  be  a 
Christian  ?  Well,  that  is  the  same  in  your  soul  that  thirst 
would  be  in  your  throat.  It  is  an  invitation  to  come. 
The  Lord  expects  that  He  will  not  have  much  more  trouble 
with  you.  Come  along.  "  Let  him  that  is  athirst  come." 
You  remember  when  you  were  walking  along  the  country 
road  last  summer,  and  you  got  faint  and  fagged  and  looked 
weary,  and  sitting  near  a  bend  of  the  road  you  saw 
the  sheen  of  running  water,  and  your  ear  heard  the 
living,  gurgling  sound  as  it  ran.  How  it  told  upon 
you.  How  it  quickened  and  reanimated  your  jaded  frame, 
and  you  pressed  forth,  and  very  soon,  without  anybody  ask- 
ing you,  the  gurgling  water  there,  and  the  thirst  here,  led 
the  one  to  the  other.  You  stooped  down  and  drank  and 
revived. 

The  Spirit  says  to  all  anxious  souls,  "  What  is  keeping 
you  back  ?  You  are  anxious  to  be  saved.  Be  saved." 
You  are  anxious  to  trust  Christ.  Trust  Him  to  the  hilt. 
Trust  Him  to  uhe  full.  Take  Him  as  much  as  you  like.  He 
will  never  put  you  to  confusion.  Let  him  that  is  athirst 
thank  God  that  he  is  that  length,  and  let  him  come  all  the 
remaining  distance.  Finish  the  matter.  '*  Let  him  that  is 
athirst  come." 

And  what  is  last?  "Whosoever  will;"  that  is  last. 
Ah !  you  see  this,  my  friend — and  if  you  are  a  preacher  of 
the  Gospel  you  would  soon  find  it  out ;  state  the  Gospel  as 


94  COME  !    COME  !    COME  ! 

plainly,  as  fully,  as  freely,  as  absolutely,  unconditionally  as 
you  please,  there  is  aye  a  condition.  It  is  not  in  Him  ;  it 
is  in  you;  it  is  there.  "Whosoever  will."  It  is  narrowed 
down  to  that.  Are  you  willing  ?  Here  you  must  begin. 
Are  you  willing,  without  anxiety,  without  tearing  your 
hair  or  your  garment,  without  moving  a  muscle,  without 
any  throbbings  of  anxiety,  in  calm,  cool,  quiet  blood? 
Can  you  make  a  decision?  In  the  affairs  of  this  world 
we  are  sometimes  greatly  excited,  and  we  make  our  decision 
under  spells  of  great  excitement :  but  in  others  of  our  great 
decisions,  it  is  not  so.  There  are  people  who  make  great 
decisions  without  any  tumultuous  working  in  their  breasts. 
It  is  a  simple  yes  or  no  that  alters  and  changes  the  destiny 
of  two  lives.  And  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — blessed  be  His 
name  for  it  for  ever  —  does  not  come  to  you  and  say, 
"  Now,  I  am  willing  to  take  you  if  you  really  get  anxious,  if 
you  really  are  thirsting  for  Me  as  the  hart  pants  after 
the  waterbrooks,  or  like  a  famished  man  hungry  for  bread." 
There  are  some  of  you  here  —  I  say  there  are  some 
men  and  women  here,  and  I  do  not  say  old,  hoary- 
headed  sinners,  for  they  may  be  young  men  and  young 
w^omen,  with  very  fair  and  winsome  faces,  who  may  be 
very  thankful  that  the  Lord  does  not  demand  as  a  condition 
of  salvation  that  you  should  be  filled  with  desire  for  Him. 
"While  I  was  preaching  about  those  who  were  thirsty,  you 
could  almost  have  stood  up  and  said,  "  Well,  preacher,  if 
you  only  knew  how  stone  dead  my  heart  is  to  Christ,  to  sin 
as  a  painful  conviction,  and  to  salvation — if  you  only  knew 
how  utterly  destitute  I  am  of  spiritual  desire,  spiritual 
thirst,  your  heart  would  fail  you  to  preach  to  a  face  like 
mine."  Do  not  make  any  mistake,  my  friend.  I  do  know 
just  how  dead,  and  dark,  and  damned  you  are.  I  know 
because  I  know  myself.  That  is  why  the  Gospel  is 
narrowed  down  to  this.  While  you  are  sitting  there  in 
your  coldness,  your  accursed  coldness,  sitting  there  in  your 
indifference,  let  God  Himself  move  on  you  to  this  extent — 


COME  !   COME  !   COME  !  95 

that  you  just  put  your  hand  in  Christ's  and  say,  "  Yes." 
"Whosoever  will."  Without  excitement,  without  anxiety, 
can  you  make  a  decision  ?  That  will  do,  blessed  be  His 
name ;  and  some  of  us  will  not  forget  it  to  all  eternity  to 
His  praise  and  glory.  If  He  had  waited  until  we  were 
strung  up  to  high  excitement.  He  would  have  waited  for 
ever.  You  might  as  well  wait  for  green  corn  to  grow  on  the 
sands  of  Sahara,  as  wait  for  throbs  of  spiritual  desire 
to  appear  in  the  hearts  of  some  who  are  before  me  to-night. 
Now,  God  has  brought  it  down  to  this,  "  Whosoever  will." 
The  bare  act  of  decision,  apart  from  all  emotion,  and  apart 
from  all  excitement — that  will  do.  He  will  begin  down 
there.  Ah  !  I  would  begin  with  no  woman  who  was  to  be 
my  wife  down  there,  and  you  would  begin  with  no 
man  down  there.  If  they  did  not  really  love  you,  and  you 
felt  that  you  did  not  love  them,  you  would  pass  on  until 
you  found  the  one  that  did.  It  is  a  grand  thing  for  you  and 
me  that  the  Lord  does  not  impose  these  conditions.  Well, 
you  stand  to-night  as  I  have  described,  cold  and  indifferent, 
and  it  is  the  mere  spinning  of  a  coin,  so  to  speak,  whether 
you  go  to  heaven  or  to  hell.  But  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
so  anxious  that  you  should  go  to  heaven,  and  so  anxious 
that  you  should  not  go  to  hell,  that  He  says,  "  Whosoever 
will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely."  Come  now  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  accept  Him.  He  places  Himself 
at  your  disposal.  It  is  just  like  the  marriage  ceremony.  I 
incline  to  magnify  my  office  and  say,  that  I  am  the  officiat- 
ing clergyman.  There  stands  the  Son  of  God,  that  heavenly 
wooer  of  the  souls  of  men,  and  there  you  stand,  and  I  say  to 
Him,  "  Art  Thou  willing  to  take  this  soul  to  be  Thine?" 
"Willing  !  Let  the  Cross,  and  the  agony,  and  the  shame, 
and  the  spitting  testify  that  I  am  willing."  I  turn  to  you. 
*'  Now  man,  woman,  are  you  willing  to  give  yourself  to  this 
Christ?"  "Whosoever  will."  "Yes?"  Then  it  is  done. 
If  you  are  bowing  your  heart  and  saying  in  the  deep  places 
of  your  soul  "  Yes,"  then  it  is  done,  and  there  is  joy  in  the 


96  COME  !    COME  !    COME  ! 

presence  of  the  angels  of  God  because  another  sinner  has 
come  home  to  Christ. 

What  more  can  I  say  ?  The  thing  is  to  be  done.  Will 
you  do  it  ?  Put  it  this  way.  Suppose  that  this  glass  of 
water  were  the  water  of  life,  some  wonderful  elixir  vitae,  the 
taking  of  which  would  make  you  young  and  beautiful,  and 
cause  you  to  live  for  ever.  And  suppose  I  gave  it  to  you 
as  a  free  gift.  But  I  will  suppose  that  I  am  afraid  that 
you  somehow  or  other  have  got  wrong  notions  about  me ; 
and,  instead  of  thinking  of  what  this  would  do  for  you,  you 
have  suspicions  about  me  behind  it,  and  you  think  that 
if  you  came  forward  to  me  there  might  be  something 
dangerous  in  my  other  hand,  while  I  am  holding  out  this 
one.  That  often  keeps  back  folk;  they  have  strange, 
suspicious  notions ;  and  so  just  because  I  am  so  despe- 
rately anxious  that  you  should  come,  and  for  once  put  your 
lips  to  this — just  taste  it  even  for  once — I  put  it  down 
there,  and  I  say,  "  There  is  the  water  of  life,  and  whosoever 
will,  let  him  come."  And  in  order  that  I  may  be  no 
stumbling-block,  I  disappear  altogether,  just  to  show  you 
that,  above  all  things,  I  want  you  to  taste  this  for  yourself. 
Now,  salvation  is  like  that.  The  Lord  does  everything  to 
allay  your  fears,  and  to  show  you  His  good  faith.  He  says, 
"  Whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  to  his 
heart's  content." 

Now  I  cannot  preach  any  more.  All  I  know  is  that  He 
is  a  real  Christ  whom  I  am  preaching.  Come  to  Him  now 
in  simple,  hearty  confidence. 

**  I  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus  say, 
*  Behold,  I  freely  give 
The  living  water — thirsty  one, 

Stoop  down,  and  drink,  and  live. ' 
I  came  to  Jesus,  and  I  drank 
Of  that  life-giving  stream  ; 
My  thirst  was  quenched,  my  soul  revived, 
And  now  I  live  in  Him." 

May  God  bless  the  preaching  of  the  Word ! 

Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  3  &  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


'§tqmt  §qmxt  ful^jit 


PROPHESYING  TO  DRY  BONES. 


%  S>txman 

Preached  in   Regent   Square   Peesbyteeian 
Chuech,  London, 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


Text. — Ezekiel  xxxvii.  1-14. 

The  detail  of  the  vision  is  given  in  the  first  ten  verses. 
The  spiritual  counterpart,  the  spiritual  analogue  we  have 
read  in  the  verses  from  the  11th  to  15th.  This  is  a  repre- 
sentation, says  God,  of  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  its  then 
condition,  and  its  prospect  through  the  marvellous  operation 
of  His  Word,  and  grace,  and  providence.  I  believe  that 
still  the  vision  has  reference  to  the  times  and  the  prospects 
of  God's  Israel.  Still  they  are  a  nation  scattered  and 
peeled ;  still  they  are  not  reckoned  among  the  organized, 
constituted  peoples  of  the  earth.  And  still  from  such  a 
vision  as  this  gleams  of  hope  shine  out  as  to  what  God  will 
yet  do  for  them,  as  to  the  way  in  which,  manifestly  and 
visibly,  even  as  they  have  been  scattered,  so  shall  they  be 
gathered  together  again  and  set  up.  But  my  main  interest 
is  to  see  what  hope  there  is  here  for  the  condition  presented 
by  the  whole  Church  of  God  in  our  own  land  and  in  our 

Vol.  III.— No.  7. 


98  PEOPHESYING    TO    DEY    BONES. 

own  time  to-day.  Let  us  turn  to  it  with  this  thought,  this 
wish,  this  prayer  in  our  hearts.  "We  belong  to  Israel.  We 
are  concerned  for  her.  The  very  despair  mentioned — is  it 
not  the  despair  that  sometimes  rises  over  our  own  hearts 
as  we  look  round  and  see  all  the  blackness,  and  weak- 
]iess,  and  misery,  how  far  back  we  are,  and  how  much 
is  to  be  done?  Do  we  not  sometimes  sigh,  and  say,  **  Our 
bones  are  dry,  our  strength  is  completely  withered,  our  hope 
is  lost,  vv^e  are  clean  cut  off  "  ? 

Let  us  turn  to  this  vision.  Let  us  assume  things  to  be 
even  at  the  very  worst,  Christianity  as  being  worn  out, 
played  out,  utterly  extinct  and  extinguished  as  a  practical 
force  in  the  world.  Well,  even  at  the  worst,  were  things  as 
bad  as  this  vision  represented  Israel  to  be,  still  let  us  see 
how  from  the  very  darkest  night  and  deepest  pit  God's  light 
shines  in,  and  His  power  is  displayed  and  glorified. 

"  The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  me,"  the  prophet  said, 
**and  carried  me  out  in  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  and  set  me 
down  in  the  midst  of  the  valley  which  was  full  of  bones." 
When  you  are  dealing  with  Ezekiel,  it  is  scarcely  worth 
while  to  try  to  get  a  natural,  or,  as  we  might  say,  a  rational 
explanation  or  groundwork  for  his  vision.  He  is  so  much 
sid  generis,  so  entirely  of  his  own  kind,  that  the  material 
fabric  of  his  clear  dream  and  solemn  vision  can  scarcely  be 
estimated  by  us.  As  some  say,  it  may  be  that  when  he  with 
his  countrymen  was  being  carried  away  in  the  dreary 
captivity  from  Jerusalem  to  the  river  Chebar  in  Mesopo- 
tamia's open  plain,  they  passed  through  some  valley  which 
not  long  before  had  been  the  scene  and  theatre  of  con- 
tending hosts  as  they  fought  in  battle.  No  matter  which 
side  withdrew  victorious  from  that  field,  the  conqueror 
Death  remained  there  more  than  conqueror.      He  claimed 


PEOPHESYING   TO   DRY   BONES.  99 

his  thousands,  tens  of  thousands,  and  their  bones  were 
allowed  to  lie  and  whiten  in  the  sun. 

Perhaps  the  Israelites  had  passed  some  such  place  on 
their  way  to  their  long  and  dreary  captivity  ;  and  it  may  be 
that  out  of  that  the  Spirit  of  God  found  some  material 
basis  for  this  vision  and  its  meaning  for  Ezekiel.  "  The 
hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  me,"  he  says,  **  and  carried  me 
out  in  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  and  set  me  down  in  the  midst 
of  the  valley  which  was  full  of  bones,  and  caused  me  to 
pass  by  them  round  about :  and,  behold,  there  were  very 
many  in  the  open  valley ;  and,  lo,  they  tuere  very  dry." 

The  first  thing  that  occurs  to  me  to  say  when  I  read  this 
is  that  here  the  Spirit  of  God  was  careful  to  make  the 
prophet  Ezekiel  to  get  the  full  idea — careful,  accurate,  just, 
most  despairing  and  heart-breaking,  of  the  sad  condition  of 
things  as  they  actually  were  in  Israel,  and  as  they  were 
before  God's  own  eyes.  My  friends,  how  many  of  us  are 
willing  to  be  led  by  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord,  into  the  knowledge  into  which  Ezekiel  was  led 
by  that  clear  dream  and  solemn  vision  ?  Is  there  not  an 
optimism  abroad  which  is  too  tranquil,  and  sunshiny,  and 
hopeful,  simply  because  it  has  never  gone  through  London, 
North  and  South  and  East  and  West.  It  has  never  dared 
to  face  the  dismal,  damning  facts  of  the  situation 
as  they  actually  are.  Therefore  it  sings  its  little  song; 
therefore  it  writes  cheery  little  articles ;  and  therefore 
altogether  its  prophesying  is  so  weak.  It  is  not 
grounded  and  founded  upon  actual  knowledge.  What 
we  need  is  to  be  brave  enough  and  strong  enough 
in  the  Lord  and  in  the  power  of  His  might  to 
walk  about  our  Zion,  to  go  on  that  dismal  round 
on  which  Ezekiel   went,   and  on  which  Nehemiah   went. 


iOO  PEOPHESYING  TO  DBY  BONES. 

when  he  came  back  from  his  captivity,  and  saw,  not  in 
vision,  but  in  reaUty,  what  this  portrays — when  he  went  by 
night  "  on  stumbhng  steed,  with  sobbing  heart,"  b}^  the 
burnt  gateways  and  the  broken-down  walls,  and  all  the 
wreck  and  desolation  of  what  had  been  fair  Jerusalem. 
Before  he  began  his  work,  he  went  and  estimated  what  the 
work  was,  and  what  it  required.  Before  the  Lord  gave  to 
Ezekiel  this  vision  of  what  He  Himself  yet  would  do.  He 
prepared  him  for  the  work  he  had  to  do  by  first  of  all 
letting  him  see  the  true  state  of  things.  Have  lue  seen? 
What  do  we  know  ?  Before  we  lift  up  our  voices  and  begin 
somewhat  vaguely  and  vainly  to  talk — or  even  before  we 
begin  to  talk  of  God's  great  power  in  the  Gospel,  before  we 
begin  to  sing  great  psalms  and  say  great  prayers — let  us  go 
out  and  see,  see  for  ourselves.  If  we  are  true  to  God,  it  will 
not  altogether  break  us  down.  It  will  break  down  our  false  con- 
fidence ;  it  will  take  away  from  us  all  mere  over-enthusiasm 
and  cheap  cheering  ;  will  deepen,  and  broaden,  and  solidify 
us,  and  cause  us,  above  all  things,  to  lay  hold  with  both 
hands  on  the  Lord  God  Almighty,  for  none  but  He  will 
serve  the  awful  problem  of  the  hour. 

The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  carried  him  abroad,  caused  him 
to  pass  by  the  valley,  and  to  see  north,  south,  east,  and 
west,  the  whole  scope  and  circumference  of  the  need  of 
his  country  and  of  his  countrymen.  And  just  when  his 
heart  was  heaviest,  just  when  all  hope  was  going  out  of 
him,  there  came  this  voice,  **  Son  of  man,  can  these  bones 
live?  And  I  answered,  O  Lord  God,  Thou  knowest." 
Now,  if  we,  in  attacking  this  problem,  begin  at  the  begin- 
ning, here  is  how  we  should  be  led.  First  of  all,  we  must 
diagnose  the  case ;  that  is  the  first  thing.  Then  come  the 
prescriptions  and  remedies,  if  these  can  at  all  be  found. 


PROPHESYING  TO  DRY  BONES.  101 

So,  if  we  would  cease  from  man,  and  go  and  look  at  things 
through  God's  eyes  as  He  leads  us  by  His  Word  and  by 
His  Spirit,  as  He  clarifies  our  vision,  as  He  reveals  to  us 
the  aicful  havoc,  the  ghastliness,  the  misery  of  our  time, 
it  would  not  lead  us  to  despair,  but  would  lead  us  away 
from  cheap  and  false  and  inadequate  views  of  the  disease, 
and  therefore  from  cheap  and  false  and  inadequate  views  of 
what  will  remedy  the  disease.  If  we  went  on  this  plan,  then 
we  should  be  led  substantially  and  essentially  as  Ezekiel  was. 
Just  when  we  would  be  pressed  and  overpressed  beyond 
measure,  out  of  bounds,  then  there  would  come  to  us,  and 
there  does  come  to  us,  as  there  came  to  Ezekiel,  that 
question,  "Son  of  man,  can  these  bones  live?"  It  is  a 
challenge  to  us.  Here  we  stand,  and  there  is  before  us  in 
vision  what  was  before  Ezekiel  in  the  same  way :  all  the 
sin,  all  the  wretchedness,  all  the  misery,  all  the  helpless- 
ness. A  mass  of  bones  instead  of  a  living,  glorious, 
triumphant  army.  Let  us  come  to  the  very  worst.  Let  us 
admit  the  very  worst.  Suppose  that  the  Church  of  Christ 
were  reduced  to  this — a  mass  of  helplessness  hastening  to 
final  corruption,  still,  just  at  the  worst,  things  begin  to 
mend — and  the  mending  element  in  Ezekiel's  day,  and  in 
our  day,  and  in  every  day,  is  this  :  God  lives,  God  is  here. 
Look  up,  look  up !  before  we  begin  in  a  fretful,  feverish 
way  even  to  work — to  do  what  has  almost  become  a 
technical  phrase,  "  Christian  work  " — first  of  all  listen  to 
that  voice  that  comes  to  you  and  me.  Listen,  O  brother 
preacher.  Sabbath  -  school  teacher,  elder.  0  Israelite, 
burdened  with  the  problem  of  to-day,  listen,  for  God 
speaks.  Son  of  man,  yes,  things  are  dark,  dismal, 
desperate.  Son  of  man,  survey  the  misery.  An  appalling 
sight !     Can  these  bones  live  ? 


102  PROPHESYING  TO  DEY  BONES. 

What  is  to  be  our  answer  to  this  question  ?  There  are 
two  answers  :  there  is  an  over-enthusiastic  "  Yes,  praise 
God  I  Hallelujah !  "  I  think  that  I  have  heard  that,  it 
does  not  impress  me ;  it  somewhat  depresses  me.  And 
there  is  an  over-despairing  "  No  " ;  it  is  hopeless,  death 
reigns,  hell  is  triumphant,  Christianity  is  "  played  out." 
And  we  are  not  to  say  that  either — neither  the  over- 
enthusiasfcic,  nor  the  over-despondent.  Ezekiel  was  a 
man  of  as  big  brain,  and  burning  heart,  and  broad  views 
as  any  of  us,  and  the  most  that  he  could  sa}^  will,  I  think, 
do  for  us ;  at  any  rate,  God  will  take  it.  It  was  neither 
the  over-enthusiastic  "Hallelujah ! "  nor  an  over-despondeut 
sob  of  despair ;  but  it  was  this,  just  what  I  feel,  what  every 
preacher  feels  when  he  is  face  to  face  with  the  dry  bones. 
In  answer  to  the  question,  "Can  these  dry  bones  live?" 
looking  at  the  bones  I  cannot  say  "  Yes  ";  but  looking  at 
Thee,  my  questioner,  I  dare  not  say  **  No."  That  will  do  ; 
just  stand  there.  Stand  there  between  God  and  the  devil, 
between  heaven  and  hell.  Stand  in  the  middle  ;  feel,  see, 
understand  the  situation.  And  then,  bless  God,  this  is  all 
He  asks  of  you ;  do  not  despond,  do  not  despair.  "  Can 
these  bones  live?  "  Looking  at  the  bones,  "  No  ";  looking 
at  myself,  **  No  ";  but  looking  at  Him  I  dare  not  say  "  No." 
"  O  Lord  God,  Thou  knowest." 

To  bring  this  parable  to  a  point  here  and  now,  I  can 
imagine  that  there  is  some  man  sitting  in  the  church. 
When 'you  came  in,  friend,  the  very  thought  of  your  heart 
was  this,  "  Preacher,  if  you  knew  how  utterly  averse  I  am 
to  your  evangelical  religion  ;  if  you  knew  what  a  B.D.  I  am 
(that  means  often  bone-dry) — if  you  knew  what  a  bone-dry 
I  am  towards  God,  towards  Christ,  towards  salvation ;  if 
you  knew  the  absolutely  little,  the  none-at-all  of  hankering 


PROrHESYING  TO  DEY  BONES.  103 

that  I  have  after  your  Scriptural  heaven,  or  fear  that  I 
have  of  your  Scriptural  hell ;  why,  man,  your  tongue  would 
cleave  to  your  jaw,  and  you  would  faint  away  from  any 
attempt  to  preach  your  Gospel  into  my  face."  God 
knows,  my  friend,  you  have  spoken  just  the  thought  of 
my  heart  as  well  as  your  own.  Yes,  I  know  that  is  just 
about  the  condition  of  the  natural  man.  He  is  dead, 
fallen  away  from  God — that  is  the  condition  of  the 
formalist  in  religion,  who  has  a  name  to  live,  but  is  dead. 
Never  try  to  empty  these  awful  Scriptural  words  of  one 
ounce  or  atom  of  their  tremendous  meaning — dead,  lost, 
cut  off,  dark.  Can  this  be  changed?  "  0  Lord  God,  Thou 
knowest."  Hea.venly  Father,  mighty  Saviour,  blessed 
Spirit,  some  may  say  one  way,  some  may  say  another.  As 
for  me,  I  will  stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  God.  That 
is  all  He  asks. 

"Again  He  said  unto  me,  Prophesy  upon  these  bones, 
and  say  unto  them,  0  ye  dry  bones,  hear  the  word  of  the 
Lord.  Thus  said  the  Lord  God  unto  these  bones."  What 
a  blessing  it  is  that  Ezekiel  said  so  little  as  he  did.  I  am 
afraid  that  a  number  of  us — and  even  some  of  our  wisest 
men,  those  of  us  who  speak  loudest  and  longest  in  con- 
ferences— would  have  had  a  great  deal  to  say  to  the 
Almighty.  We  would  almost  have  been  His  counsellors. 
We  would  have  contradicted  that  Scripture  in  Isaiah : 
"With  whom  took  He  counsel,  and  who  instructed  Him, 
and  taught  Him  knowledge,  and  taught  Him  judgment,  and 
showed  to  Him  the  way  of  understanding,"  and  of  coping 
with  the  London  problem — with  the  world's  problem  ;  we 
should  have  forgotten  ourselves;  we  should  have  waxed 
wise  and  eloquent.  Ezekiel  said  nothing  but  just  "  0 
Lord  God,  Thou  knowest.     I  will  stand,  I  will  wait,  I  will 


104  PROPHESYING  TO  DBT  BONES. 

listen,  I  will  be  at  Thy  dictation."  The  problem  of  the 
hour  demands  the  same  from  all  our  Church  courts  at  this 
very  moment — less  talking.  I  do  not  speak  scornfully,  I 
speak  sincerely  —  less  talking  and  more  listening. 
"  Prophesy  upon  these  bones,  and  say  unto  them,  0  ye 
dry  bones,  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord.  Thus  said  the 
Lord  God  unto  these  bones.  Behold,  I  will  cause  breath  to 
enter  into  you,  and  ye  shall  live :  and  I  will  lay  sinews 
upon  you,  and  will  bring  up  flesh  upon  you,  and  cover  you 
with  skin,  and  put  breath  in  you,  and  ye  shall  live  ;  and  ye 
shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord.  So  I  prophesied  as  I  was 
commanded  :  and  as  I  prophesied,  there  was  a  noise,  and 
behold  a  shaking,  and  the  bones  came  together,  bone  to 
his  bone." 

What  a  night  it  was  for  Ezekiel — if  this  came  to  him  in 
the  night  time — when  God  by  visions  unseals  the  eyes  of 
men,  and  teaches  them  the  deep  things  of  sin  and  of  sal- 
vation. It  was  bad  enough  to  see  that  valley  full  of 
rustling  bones.  It  was  bad  enough  to  have  that  awful, 
probing  question  put  to  him,  piercing  to  the  dividing 
asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  proving  a  discerner  of 
the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.  Puncturing  all 
the  wind-bag  in  him,  and  bringing  him  by  a  round  turn 
to  a  definite  point.  "  Son  of  man,  can  these  bones  live?" 
That  was  hard  enough ;  but  it  grows  harder  still.  "  Son 
of  man,  thou  hast  answered  well.  Go  on  now !  Prophesy 
unto  these  bones,  dry  and  white  as  they  are.  Stand  over 
them,  stand  above  them  ;  and  against  all  sense  and  reason, 
with  earth  and  hell  laughing  at  you,  say  to  them,  "  Behold, 
thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  will  cause  breath,  sinew,  bone, 
flesh  to  come  unto  you,  and  you  shall  stand  upon  your  feet, 
and  be  a  great  army." 


PROPHESYING  TO  DRY  BONES.  105 

Was  not  that  a  cross  which  Ezekiel  had  to  bear?     Did 
not  that  rather  crucify  his  pride  of  intellect  ? — and  he  was 
a    man    who   had    some   intellect,  and   it   almost   always 
carries  the  pride  with  it.     How  would  you  have  liked  a 
night  vision  like  that?     It  would  have  driven  most  of  us 
mad,   I   am   afraid.     That  is  the  prophet's  cross   yet,  in 
London,  and  all  over  the  earth — to  stand  in  face  of  the 
world's  sin  and  awful  destitution — to  stand  in  face  of  its 
spiritual  death,  and  to  utter  over  it  what  seem  to  be  merely 
wild  ecstatic  incantations,  prophesying   to  bones.     But  I 
ask  the   question,  Is   the   Gospel,   is  the  Word   that   we 
preach  in  God's   name,  an  incantation,   or  an  invocation 
and  an  inspiration  ?     Which  ?     There  are  brother  ministers 
here  :  I  ask  you,  as  I  ask  myself,  to  stand  where  old  Ezekiel 
stood,   and   see   this   vision.      Let  us  feel  it  all,  and  let 
us   remember   that   God    is    conducting    us    as    He    con- 
ducted him.     This  is  no  dream.     This  is  daylight  reality 
for    us.       Let    us     manfully    bear    the    prophet's    cross. 
Let  us  bear   the  prophet's  reproach.      Let   us   bear  the 
prophet's  scorn,  as  we   must  do.     ^We  seem  to  come  to 
the   problem  of  our  time  with  about  the  weakest  remedy 
that    you    could  propose :    words,    words,    words,    breath, 
breath,  breath.     No  wonder  that  men  say,  "  Oh,  why  do 
you   not   give   it   up  ?    Why   do   you   not   stop   preaching 
these  words?   Why  do  you  not  see  that  all  through  the 
ages  it  has  been  a  mere  incantation  and  hallucination,  and 
the  world  has  got  steadily  more  rotten  while   you  have 
been   going  on  ?     Do    cease   from   the    worship    of    God, 
and  turn  round  to  the  service  of  man.     Distribute  blankets; 
give  coals  to  the  poor.     Do  something  for  the  shivering 
bones  to  warm  and  cover  them  a  little.     It  is  idle,  empty 
mockery,    the    preaching    of  the    Gospel.     Ezekiel,   this 


106  PEOPHESYING  TO  DRY  BONES. 

vision  is  only  the  result  of  a  disordered  and  disturbed 
imagination.  How  can  you  as  a  man,  who  tries  to 
wear  his  head  above  his  shoulders,  prophesy  to  bones, 
and  tell  them  to  live  ? "  We  must  feel  that  to-day. 
It  is  out  of  this  awful  urgency  and  pressure  that  the 
Gospel  flies  as  a  bullet  from  a  rifle.  It  is  this  pressure 
from  above  and  beloiv — it  is  this  that  gives  the  Gospel 
force  ;  and  what  is  wrong  with  us  preachers  to-day  is  that 
we  have  lost  what  Ezekiel  would  get  that  night.  He 
never  was  greatly  lacking  it,  but  he  would  get  it  with  ten- 
fold pith  and  vehemence — the  power  to  utter  words  that 
are  more  than  words — to  preach  and  hurl  himself  along 
with  his  message.  There  is  still  in  preaching  the  Gospel 
in  any  congregation  the  same  seeming  weirdness,  and 
uncanniness,  and  mystery  that  we  see  when  the  prophet 
stands  and  prophesies  unto  the  bones. 

Oh,  for  this  vision  !  Oh,  to  see  it  and  to  feel  it !  How 
it  would  revive  the  preaching,  my  brethren !  How  it 
would  revive  all  of  what  we  call,  somewhat  too  easily,  our 
"  Christian  work,"  to  stand  between  the  living  and  the 
dead,  unable  to  go  forward  for  death  is  there,  unable  to  go 
back  for  God  is  behind  us  !  If  you  go  back  past  Him,  you 
go  back  to  perdition.  Have  mercy,  have  pity  upon 
preachers,  especially  those  of  us  who  realize  the  vision  a 
little — what  it  is  to  preach,  and  where  we  stand  when  we 
are  in  front  of  you.  Cry  mightily  to  God  to  strengthen  us, 
to  stand  between  the  living  and  the  dead. 

"So  I  prophesied  as  I  was  commanded."  Do  not 
run  over  a  single  line  here,  but  pause  upon  each.  I 
cannot  do  it  here,  but  do  it  for  yourself  when  you  go 
home.  "  So  I  prophesied  as  I  was  commanded ;  and  as 
I  prophesied" — at  first,  oh,  how  dry  his  throat  became. 


PROPHESYING  TO  DRY  BONES.  107 

At  first,  oh,  how  hollow  the  echoes  of  his  voice  would  be, 
as  they  came  back  upon  his  ear,  resounding  through 
the  valley.  How  pithless,  how  hollow,  how  useless — 
**but,  lo,  as  I  prophesied  there  was  a  noise,  and  a  shaking, 
and  a  rattling,  and  a  creeping."  Mystery  upon  mystery! 
Wonder  upon  wonder  !  How  intense  becomes  the  interest 
of  the  vision.  There  is  a  shaking.  Bones  come  together — 
bone  to  his  bone.  *'  And  when  I  beheld,  lo,  the  sinews 
and  the  flesh  came  up  upon  them."  And  you  can  imagine 
that  his  voice  rose  in  prophesying.  How  he  preached,  how 
he  testified,  how  he  repeated  and  reiterated  his  message. 
•Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord.  **  Behold,  I  the  Lord  God  will 
do  all  this,  on  you  and  for  you."  "  And  the  skin  covered 
them  above."  "But,"  says  Ezeldel,  "there  was  no  breath  in 
them."  Well  said,  Ezekiel!  This  is  a  vision.  In  some  sense 
there  is  something  grotesque,  something  huge,  something 
Titanic  about  it;  but  I  can  see  that  Ezekiel  while  glowing 
like  a  furnace  is  cool  at  the  same  time.  He  is  not  carried 
away  by  mere  rapture  and  hallucination.  His  eye  is 
bright,  but  it  is  not  over  bright.  He  is  no  visionary, 
although  he  is  seeing  a  vision.  He  is  no  mere  mutterer  in 
a  sleeping  dream.  His  eyes  are  wide  open,  for  he  sees  that 
"there  was  no  breath  in  them."  Again  I  say,  well  done, 
Ezekiel !  I  imagine  that  if  I  had  been  there  that  line  would 
not  have  been  written,  "  but  there  was  no  breath  in 
them."  I  am  afraid  that  we  preachers  have  not  Ezekiel's 
keen  vision.  I  am  afraid  we  are  put  off  by  appear- 
ances as  Ezekiel  was  not.  Oh,  how  proud  and  glad 
he  might  have  been  as  he  saw  that  change  coming  over 
the  spirit  of  his  dream — as  he  saw  the  bones  come 
together,  bone  to  his  bone,  and  the  skin,  and  the  flesh, 
and  the  muscle,  and  all  the  appearance  of  manhood,  all  the 


108  PROPHESYING  TO  DRY  BONES. 

appearance  of  life ;  but  he  had  sense  enough  to  avoid  being 
deceived.  In  all  the  torrent,  tempest,  and  whirlwind  of  pro- 
phetic ecstasy,  there  was  this  central  calmness.  No  breath  ; 
no  life.  You  notice  that  it  is  not  even  the  Spirit  of  God  that 
says  to  him,  **  Now,  Ezekiel,  they  are  not  living  yet." 
Ezekiel  is  here,  seeing  it,  as  it  were,  of  and  by  himself. 
**  This  is  all  very  grand,  but  as  yet  there  is  virtually  nothing 
done.  There  is  no  life."  Now,  how  often  we  preachers  are 
unlike  Ezekiel.  Let  me  repeat  that,  and  come  back  to  it. 
Sabbath-school  teacher.  Christian  worker,  man  or  woman, 
who  is  calling  himself  or  herself  a  worker  for  God,  and  with 
God,  in  connection  with  the  awful  problem  of  sin  and  of 
salvation,  have  we  got  Ezekiel's  sight  of  things? 
By  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  under  our  efforts,  are 
things  changing?  This  vision  does  not  deny — and  the 
actual  facts  of  to-day  do  not  deny  that  preaching 
can  make  a  wonderful  change.  A  man  like  Eze- 
kiel, a  man  of  fiery  speech,  a  man  of  poetic  tempera- 
ment, a  man  of  vivid  imagination,  a  man  who  was  in  his 
preaching  like  one  who  had  a  lovely  voice,  and  could  play 
well  upon  an  instrument — ah  !  it  tells.  Empty  churches  fill 
when  Ezekiel  is  prophesying.  Empty  benches  are  covered. 
Empty  treasuries  are  filled  with  money  when  Ezekiel 
prophesies.  The  dreary,  barren  wood-yard,  it  may  be,  gives 
place  to  a  large  congregation  just  like  this  one.  x\nd  then, 
alas  !  alas  !  Heaven  help  us !  just  at  that  stage  the  poor 
preacher  has  the  wool  pulled  over  his  eyes,  and  he  says, 
"  What  great  success  !  " 

What  is  success  in  connection  with  this  prophesying, 
this  testifying  unto  men,  the  old  message,  the  Word  of 
God,  and  God  Himself  in  all  His  power  ?  What  is  success 
in  connection  with  it? — filled  pews?  a  well-organized  church? 
Oh,  let  me  dwell  a  little  in  connection  with  this  vision 
on  that  thing  called  ''organization."  How  splendidly 
these  bodies  were  organized,  and  yet  with  all  their  appear- 
ance   and   all  their   organization,   what   were   they  ?      It 


PROPHESYING  TO  DRY  BONES.  109 

reminds  me  of  a  memory  as  far  back  as  I  can  go,  the 
first  time  that  I  was  ever  in  the  chamber  of  death,  when 
I  heard  the  old  gossips  sHpping  through  the  room  whisper- 
ing to  each  other,  "  Did  you  ever  see  such  a  bonny 
corpse  !  "  Aye,  some  people  can  see  beauty  even  in  a  corpse. 
With  us,  I  am  afraid,  spiritually,  it  contents  us  if  only  we 
get  you  there  in  your  ranked  rows,  if  only  we  can  use  you 
to  a  certain  extent,  although  it  may  need  no  single  throb  or 
pulse  of  real  spiritual  life.  God  help  us,  we  are  content, 
and  we  begin  to  talk  about  success,  and  achievement,  and 
being  triumphant.  Not  so  did  Ezekiel.  He  says — and  we 
can  almost  see  him  shake  his  head,  and  you  can  almost  see 
him  stop  his  prophesying  as  he  says,  **  but  there  is  no 
breath  in  them."  I  want  the  question  to  go  round  this 
congregation;  it  is  the  burden  of  my  heart  to-day.  God 
knows  that  I  am  glad  to  see  you  in  one  sense.  I  am  glad 
to  see  well-filled  pews,  so  is  every  Ezekiel,  so  is  every 
preacher,  for  while  it  is  very,  very  difficult,  and  needs 
Almighty  power  to  convert  sinners,  there  is  no  converting 
the  empty  benches.  You  can  make  nothing  of  them.  We 
are  glad  to  see  it ;  but  after  all  what  does  it  mean  ?  Are 
you  being  quickened  from  the  dead,  my  hearer  ?  Are  you 
beholding  a  sight  which  you  never  saw  before — the  Lord 
God  speaking  over  you,  to  heal  you,  and  to  help  you,  and 
change  you?  Are  you  only  seeing  me,  and  are  you  only 
hearing  me  ?  That  is  a  straight  question ;  it  is  a  hard  one 
for  me,  and  it  is  a  harder  one  for  you.  Let  us  all  face  the 
responsibility  of  it — for  if  we  are  only  just  to  look  as  far 
forward  as  our  eye  sees — if  there  be  not  amongst  us  the 
power  of  God  Almighty  through  the  grace  of  His  Son, 
quickening  the  dead,  pulling  you  up  where  you  sit  out  of 
your  grave  of  lust,  and  worldliness,  and  covetousness,  and 
flippancy,  and  frivolity,  and  formalism,  then  this  church  is 
a  joy  to  the  devil,  and  an  offence  to  God :  an  organized 
hypocrisy. 

"  There  was  no  breath  in  them."     Yes,  preaching  like 


110  PEOPHESYING   TO    DRY   BONES. 

Ezekiel's  does  perform  a  certain  work.  It  does  go  a  long 
way  ;  but  no  amount  of  preaching,  no  matter  how  earnest, 
does  go  far  enough.  This  might  be  taken  as  an  illustration 
of  a  wonderful  word  which  you  have  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians.  God  was  in  this.  It  was  not  in 
vain ;  and  Ezekiel  was  brought  to  this  stand,  this 
halt,  not  because  the  work  had  come  to  an  end,  not 
because  despair  was  again  to  come  down,  but  because 
God  would  have  emphasized  upon  his  heart  and  mind, 
and  upon  ourselves,  that  it  is  all  of  God,  and  we  must 
not  be  misled  or  take  any  glory  to  ourselves,  but  give  it  all 
where  all  is  due.  "  Howbeit,"  says  the  Apostle,  ''that  is 
not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that  which  is  natural,  and 
afterwards  that  which  is  spiritual."  It  may  be  that  that 
might  help  us  in  this  controversy  as  to  the  worth  and  result 
of  foreign  missions.  It  may  be  that  we  criticize  too  hastily, 
because  men  are  not  jumping  at  once  into  newness  of 
spiritual  life.  Are  they  coming  at  all  into  connection  with 
the  Gospel  ?  Are  they  coming  at  all  out  of  savagery  and 
superstition  into  the  order  and  organization  of  God's  house 
and  of  God's  worship  ?  "  That  is  not  first  which  is  spiritual, 
but  that  which  is  natural,"  and  afterwards  the  quickening 
touch,  the  breath  from  heaven. 

"  Then  He  said  unto  me.  Prophesy  unto  the  v/ind,  son  of 
man" — or  literally,  prophesy  unto  the  breath — "and  say 
to  the  wind.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  Come  from  the  four 
winds,  O  breath,  and  breathe  upon  these  slain,  that  they 
may  live."  Still  dead,  still  slain.  "  So  I  prophesied  as  He 
commanded  me,  and  the  breath  came  into  them,  and  they 
lived,  and  stood  upon  their  feet,  an  exceedingly  great 
army." 

Our  time  has  gone ;  but  I  must,  as  briefly  as  possible, 
just  in  one  word,  try  to  show  how  here  you  have  all 
that  wonderful  story  that  we  read  from  the  chapter 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (Acts  ii.).  You  have  to 
bring  that   in,   to   fill   out   and   to   supplement    Ezekiel's 


PROPHESYING  TO  DRY  BONES.  Ill 

vision  :  "  Prophesy  unto  the  breath."  Oh,  there  must 
be  not  only  outward  speaking  to  men  the  things  of 
God,  speaking  them  in  God's  name,  speaking  them  in  God's 
power ;  but  there  must  be  speaking  upward  to  himself — 
speaking  outward  and  speaking  upward,  calling  to  you,  and 
calling  to  Him,  even  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  proceeds  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son.  By  these  two  sharp  divisions  in 
His  work,  God  brought  it  in  upon  Ezekiel,  and  He  brings 
it  in  upon  you  and  me,  that  without  Him  we  can  do 
nothing.  Let  not  our  very  success  become  our  stumbling- 
block.  Let  that  not  lead  us  into  deeper  darkness,  but  all 
the  more  that  we  see  a  change  coming,  a  wonderful  change, 
a  movement  and  commotion,  stagnation  breaking  up,  and 
some  sign  of  life — then  is  the  time  to  cry  mightily  to  God 
the  Holy  Ghost,  without  whom  no  soul  can  draw  a  single 
breath  of  everlasting  life.  Oh,  that  was  a  splendid  sight 
that  opened  on  Ezekiel's  mind,  that  viewless,  but  magni- 
ficent procession — shall  I  call  it  ? — or  congression,  from  the 
four  winds  as  there  swooped  down  upon  that  scene  of  desola- 
tion the  life-giving  Spirit  of  Almighty  God  ! 

We  are  living  in  the  midst  of  that  very  breath  to-day. 
Why,  then,  is  there  not  more  life  among  us  ?  Ah  !  surely, 
surely  we  need  to  come  back  to  this.  Surely,  surely 
we  need  to  rub  our  eyes  and  ask  ourselves  again  and 
again.  Have  we  as  yet  heard  whether  there  be  any 
holy  breath — any  Holy  Spirit  ?  Do  we  believe  Him  ? 
Are  we  depending  upon  Him  and  His  energy  alone  ? 
My  words  can  pierce  your  ear,  my  words  can  go 
by  a  certain  channel  into  your  natural  understand- 
ing of  things ;  but  they  are  dull,  they  are  heavy,  they  are 
weak.  It  needs  the  Spirit  of  God  with  all  His  keen, 
quick  power  to  go  into  your  heart,  and  awaken  you  up 
from  your  death  to  newness  of  life.  Brother  preachers, 
brother  Christian  workers,  let  us  remember  that  preaching 
breath  is  vain  unless  there  be  along  with  it  an  equal  and  an 
adequate  amount  of  praying  breath  for  the  Holy  Spirit. 


112  PKOPHESYING  TO  DBY  BONES. 

The  antithesis,  the  opposite  of  Death  is  Breath.  There  is 
One  among  us  whose  name  isBeeath.  Do  we  know  Him? 
Are  we  giving  Him  honour  and  glory?  Oh,  that  there  may- 
be, at  this  very  hour,  as  we  are  sitting  here,  seemingly  so 
like  the  living,  but  perhaps  so  ghastly  in  our  death — the 
breathing,  the  sweeping  energy  of  the  Holy  Ghost !  May 
He  breathe  upon  us,  and  in  that  breath  may  the  bonds  of 
death  be  loosed,  and  the  heaving  and  throbbing  of  life 
begin ! 

**0  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  prepare 

All  the  round  earth  her  God  to  meet ; 
Breathe  Thou  abroad  like  morning  air, 
Till  hearts  of  stone  begin  to  beat." 


Now  and  again,  from  different  quarters,  some  of  my 
readers  have  gently  reminded  me  that  I  speak  "  no  little 
word  "  at  the  close  of  the  sermon  to  my  invisible  audience. 
True;  and  perhaps  because  it  has  taken  time  to  convince 
me  that  I  had  such  a  large  (and  increasing)  company  out- 
side the  hallowed  walls  of  Eegent  Square.  Let  me  make 
some  amends  now;  and,  as  this  sermon  reaches  you  on 
Christmas  Day,  let  me  say  that  I  pray  for  you  all,  and  send 
to  each  of  you  my  love  in  Christ  at  this  glad  and  sacred 
Christmastide.  Let  your  response  be  an  earnest  prayer 
that  the  Word  spoken  and  printed  may  be  blessed  of  God. 

Yours  faithfully, 

John  McNeill. 


Hcnd-irson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  3  &  5,  Maryleboue  Lane,  London,  W, 


^tQcni  §qmxt  f  ul|rit. 


A  HASTY   MARCH   FROM  THE   FIELDS  TO 
BETHLEHEM. 


%  Btxmmx 

Pbeached   in   Regent   Square  Presbyterian  Church, 
ON  Christmas  Morning,  1890. 


REV,  JOHN  MCNEILL 


Text. — "And  it  came  to  pass,  as  the  angels  were  gone  away  from  them 
into  heaven,  the  shepherds  said  one  to  another,  Let  lis  now  go  even  unto 
Bethlehem,  and  see  this  thing  that  is  come  to  pass,  which  the  Lord  ha^ 
made  known  unto  us.  And  they  came  with  haste,  and  found  Mary,  and 
Joseph,  and  the  Babe  lying  in  a" manger." — Luke  ii.  15,  16. 

One  or  two  obvious  reflections  from  this  old,  old  story. 
Surely  there  never  were  words  more  beautifully  written 
than  those  in  this  second  chapter  of  Luke's  Gospel.  Of 
course,  with  such  a  theme  who  would  not  be  eloquent  ? 
But  here,  although  it  is  not  poetry  (it  is  only  prose),  yet 
with  what  matchless  touches,  with  what  skill  and  grace  the 
Holy  Spirit  guided  the  thoughts  and  the  pen  of  the  man 
who  wrote  this  chapter !  What  delicate  things  are  touched 
upon,  and  with  what  delicacy  !  What  a  sense  of  greatness, 
gladness,  and  joy,  and  yet  so  quietly  and  calmly  expressed  ! 
There  are  traditional  narratives  as  to  the  birth  of  Christ, 
and  of  the  incidents  connected  therewith ;  but  the  moment 
you  lay  them  alongside  Luke's  story,  you  feel  at  once 
that  they  force  themselves.  They  try  to  make  things  very 
eye-opening  and  wonderful ;  they  drag  in  all  manner  of 
things  portentous  ;  but  you  shut  out  all  these  apocryphal 
and  spurious  records,  and  turn  to  this  quiet,  simple,  matter- 
of-fact,  and  yet  poetical,  imaginative,  and  soul-subduing 
Vol.  HI.— No.  8. 


il4      A  HASTY  MARCH  FBOM  THE  FIELDS  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

way  of  putting  it.  We  might  almost  have  expected 
apocryphal  and  traditional  records  of  this  time.  It  is 
in  human  nature  to  hanker  after,  trying  to  put  things  better 
than  God  has  put  them;  trying  to  get  in  more,  and  to 
know  more  than  God  has  revealed  ;  trying  to  deal  with  an 
event  like  this  in  a  superstitious  rather  than  in  a  truly 
religious  way ;  trying  to 

"  Gild  refined  gold,  and  paint  the  lily, 
And  throw  a  perfume  on  the  violet  ; 
Seeking  with  taper  light  the  beauteous  eye  of  heaven  to  garnish.'* 

But  when  we  are  taught  of  God,  and  led  by  His  Word 
and  Spirit,  how  often  the  written  Word  becomes  wide, 
broad,  and  deep,  filled  with  light  and  with  heavenly  music, 
while  at  the  same  time  outwardly  so  bare,  and  bald,  and 
matter-of-fact. 

"Let  us  go  even  now  unto  Bethlehem,"  said  the 
shepherds,  "  and  see  this  thing  that  is  come  to  pass." 
They  might  have  said,  "  But  the  vision  is  gone,  the 
angels  have  vanished,  the  heavenly  music  has  ceased." 
God  had  come  to  them  in  a  most  wonderful  way, 
suddenly,  when  they  were  on  that  memorable  night 
tending  their  flocks,  with  no  sound  round  about  them, 
save  the  bleating  of  the  sheep  now  and  again,  the  city  six 
miles  away  in  the  distance,  and  all  as  calm  and  quiet  as  a 
field  in  the  country  can  be  in  a  midnight  hour. 

Have  you  ever  been  out  at  midnight  in  the  country? 
Let  me  ask  you  dwellers  in  the  city,  Do  you  know  anything 
of  this  almost  heavenly  cjuiet  and  peace?  Far  from  the 
hum,  and  roar,  and  the  din,  and  the  sin,  and  the  smoke  of 
cities,  out  in  the  quiet,  out  with  God,  and  with  God's  works, 
in  the  quietness  and  harmony  of  God's  own  world.  There 
they  were,  quietly  sitti.iL',  perhaps  talking ;  perhaps  the 
devout  among  them,  as  rliey  looked  at  the  stars,  talking 
about  the  great  God,  aud  the  great  heaven;  perhaps  they 
were  waiting  for  the  "  consolation  of  Israel,"  wondering 
when  it  would  come  to  pass;  quoting  Old  Testament 
Scriptures,  quoting  the  same  words  as  we  have  them,  and 


A  HASTY  MARCH  FEOM  THE  FIELDS  TO  BETHLEHEM       115 

wondering,  **  Well,  now,  when  is  it  to  be  ?  "  And  perhaps, 
as  they  talked,  one  word  would  lead  to  another  :  desire 
would  grow  by  what  it  fed  on.  Bringing  one  live  coal  to 
another  the  blaze  would  get  up ;  and  so,  as  thus,  "  they  that 
feared  the  Lord  spake  often  one  to  another,"  the  Lord  was 
listening.  He  came  nearer,  and  the  wish  in  their  heart  was 
the  offspring  of  the  purpose  of  His  own. 

The  very  geography,  too,  would  be  suggestive.  They 
might  be  saying,  **  Well,  this  Bethlehem,  what  a  wonderful 
place  !  "  Perhaps  they  were  shepherds,  too,  who  tended 
the  sheep  for  the  Temple.  The  fields  around  a  city  even 
to-day  are  greatly  occupied  for  the  feeding  of  sheep  for  the 
supply  of  the  city  markets ;  and  at  Bethlehem  they  were 
occupied  for  the  feeding  of  the  daily  sacrifice  of  the 
Temple :  so  that  the  shepherds  might  have  very  likely  a 
religious  element  in  their  work.  They  would  be  saying, 
'*  Well,  all  around  us  is  a  wonderful  country ;  on  these  very 
fields  David  kept  sheep  ;  on  these  very  fields  Jesse,  before 
David,  kept  sheep ;  here  Euth  had  her  wonderful  history ; 
here  Eachel  died  by  the  way."  What  sacred  memories  ! 
As  I  have  often  said,  God  never  wastes  Himself  on 
nobodies,  and  maybe  He  revealed  Himself  to  these  men 
because,  although  poor,  they  were  rich  in  faith — men  of 
thought  and  emotion,  of  Bible  knowledge  and  Bible  hope. 
Well,  suddenly,  as  they  were  thus  talking  together,  the 
silence  deepening  round  about  them,  the  lights  in  the  sky 
seemed  to  hang  down  on  little  chains  of  silver,  and  then  the 
whole  concave  of  heaven  was  dazzling  with  a  heavenly 
light.  There  was  glory  all  around.  Voices  were  ringing  in 
their  ears  :  **  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  on  earth  peace, 
goodwill  to  men." 

If  this  glorious  hght  had  just  come  out,  and  then  faded 
into  that  of  common  night,  the  shepherds  might  have 
heaved  a  sigh,  and  wondered  a  thousand  wonderings,  but 
have  sat  still.  But  they  were  not  ordinary  shepherds,  they 
were  not  ordinary  men.  They  believed  the  wonderful  word 
spoken  to  them  about  the  birth  of  the  Saviour,  and  they 


116      A  HASTY  MARCH  FROM  THE  FIELDS  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

exhorted  each  other,  and  said,  ''  Come,  now,  up;  and  let  us 
go  to  Bethlehem  and  prove  this  thing;  let  us  go  and  see  this 
thing  that  has  come  to  pass."  Search  the  Bible  all  through, 
and  wherever  you  come  on  God  revealing  Himself,  you  will 
always  find  that  He  does  not  tel)  us  everything,  and  He  does 
not  do  everything  for  us.  The  most  startling  communica- 
tions of  heaven  to  earth  always  leave  us  something  to  do ; 
we  have  to  take  to  our  feet,  we  have  to  arouse  ourselves, 
we  have  a  certain  amount  of  faith  to  exercise.  Even  here, 
if  there  had  been  no  faith,  in  vain  had  been  the  opening  of 
heaven,  and  the  multitude  of  angels,  and  the  annunciation 
of  Christ's  arrival.  Is  it  not  so  still?  How  often  we 
preachers,  we  Gospel  shepherds,  have  to  exhort  each  other 
and  to  exhort  our  people  to  prove  the  heavenly  vision  ! 
Come,  let  us  go  and  see  if  all  that  is  said  by  prophet  and 
preacher  is  true  ;  let  us  find  it  out  beyond  a  doubt ;  let  us 
give  ourselves  no  rest  until  we  have  seen  "  this  thing  that  is 
come  to  pass." 

Do  I  speak  to  any  soul  this  Christmas  morning  who  has 
not  seen  **  the  thing  that  is  come  to  pass  "  ?  It  is  perfectly 
possible.  Alas  !  alas  !  round  about  us  in  London  here,  the 
multitudes  who  in  some  dim,  dumb,  numb  way  understand 
that  God  is  near,  that  heaven  has  opened,  that  the  Son  of  God 
has  come,  but  they  have  stopped  there  ;  they  have  never 
proved  it  for  themselves.  They  have  kept  by  the  keeping  of 
the  sheep.  They  have  said,  "  We  are  too  busy,  we  cannot 
leave,  we  will  just  sit  and  wait."  How  many  people  are 
waiting  thus  for  Him,  and  saying,  "  If  it  is  to  be,  it  will  be ; 
it  will  drop  down  into  our  laps."  My  dear  unsaved  one — 
for  I  would  like  to  preach  the  Gospel  this  morning,  it  is  the 
justification  of  our  gathering  —  it  will  never  come  that 
way.  You  have  to  leave  even  legitimate  work,  and  it  does 
not  seem  a  safe  thing  to  tell  a  shepherd  to  leave  his  sheep ; 
but  there  are  some  things  which,  if  you  leave,  the  Lord  will 
look  after  while  you  are  away.  If  the  shepherd  leaves  his 
sheep  to  go  and  see  this  thing  which  is  come  to  pass,  the 
multitude  of  angels  can  surely  look  after  his  fleecy  charge 


A  HASTY  MARCH  FROM  THE  FIELDS  TO  BETHLEHEM.       117 

for  an  hour  or  two.  How  many  in  London  have  never 
taken  that  step  ;  they  have  not  gone  to  look  for  Christ  until 
they  have  seen  Him  with  the  eyes  of  their  own  hearts, 
until,  like  Simeon,  they  have  held  the  blessed  Babe  in  their 
own  arms,  and  have  been  made  to  feel,  '*  Now  let  the  end 
come,  let  me  depart  in  peace,  for  '  Mine  eyes  have  seen  Thy 
salvation.'" 

Come,  now,  let  us  exhort  each  other  to  leave  the  things 
of  time,  to  leave  for  a  little  every  care  and  every  charge 
beneath  the  skies,  that  we  may  ''see  this  thing  that  is  come 
to  pass,"  and  worship  and  bov7  down  before  the  Lord 

"  And  they  came  with  haste,  and  found  Mary,  and  Joseph, 
and  the  Babe  lying  in  a  manger."  What  had  come  to 
pass?  Christ  had  been  born.  How  quietly  God  does  His 
great  works  !  It  is  thought  that  Luke  got  some  of  the 
details  from  Mary.  He  has  more  detail  than  the  others, 
because  he  got  it  from  the  maiden -mother  herself.  As 
some  one  has  said,  mothers  are  the  natural  historians  of  the 
child's  infancy ;  and  it  was  only  the  mother,  and  the  mother 
like  Mary,  who  would  tell  us  so  much,  and  would  keep  back 
so  much  more.  If  Mary  had  been  other  than  the  great 
soul  she  was,  how  she  could  have  dilated  and  gratified  mere 
gaping  curiosity,  and  have  told  us  things  that  would  not 
after  all  bring  Christ  any  nearer,  and  would  not  make  the 
event  either  a  bit  more  heavenly  or  human  than  it  is.  But 
there  is  the  gentle  concealing  in  the  midst  of  the  revealing; 
there  is  the  hfting  and  yet  the  dropping  of  the  veil.  How 
unlike  to  the  magical,  weird  stories,  the  traveller's  tales, 
with  which  superstition  has  overloaded  this  sweet  idyll 
of  Christ's  nativity. 

"  This  shall  be  a  sign  unto  you  :  Ye  shall  find  the  Babe 
wrapped  in  swaddling-clothes,  lying  in  a  manger."  How 
unheralded,  in  one  way,  how  unattended  !  Did  not  I  say, 
a  little  ago,  that  whenever  God  speaks,  no  matter  how 
clearly,  faith  is  needed  ;  for  faith  is  reason  stiblimed  to  its 
highest  reach  and  its  loftiest  height.  What  an  anticlimax 
it  seemed  to  be  to  the  heavenly  message,  "This  shall  be 


118      A  HASTY  MAECH  FROM  THE  FIELDS  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

the  sign  to  you":  Go,  and  you  shall  find  Him  in  a  manger, 
among  the  stamping,  champing  cattle.  They  might  have 
said,  "Ah!  there  is  some  hallucination.  It  savours  of 
some  wild,  visionary  impressions  and  imaginations,  that 
our  great  and  glorious  King,  v^ho  should  be  born  in  a 
royal  palace,  should  appear  in  this  mean,  poverty-stricken 
way."  Yet  they  must  have  had  true  faith  to  go  and 
take  this  for  their  sign  ;  not  going  with  lofty  heads,  but 
heads  down  earthwards,  like  men  looking  for  something 
that  God  has  laid  pretty  low  down.  Oh !  again  I  would 
like  to  preach  Christ  to  you.  Some  of  us  have  not  found 
Jesus  because  we  are  looking  too  high.  *'  Say  not  in 
thine  heart,  Who  shall  ascend?  and  say  not  in  thine 
heart.  Who  shall  descend?"  We  require  neither  great 
soaring  thoughts  of  imaginative  power,  nor  do  we  need 
great  depth  and  profundity.  *'  The  word  is  nigh  thee, 
even  in  thy  mouth  and  in  thy  heart."  The  Bairn  is 
lying  at  your  feet ;  the  Saviour  is  at  your  door ;  you 
will  stumble  over  Him  into  destruction  if  you  go  on. 
Do  not  look  high,  nor  deep,  nor  far  off;  but  look  close, 
look  down — there  He  is  ! 

And  they  went  away  to  Bethlehem  w^ith  this  faith  in  their 
hearts,  and  by  an  unerring  instinct  it  led  them  to  Jesus. 
If  they  had  gone  adding  something  to  the  angel's  message, 
they  never  had  arrived  there  yet — if  they  had  not  taken  the 
sign  and  held  on  to  the  sign.  *'  What  we  are  looking  for," 
they  said,  *'  is  a  Babe  in  a  manger,  wrapped  in  swaddling- 
clothes  " — hastily  done.  No  fine  dresses  ready  in  a  score  of 
drawers,  and  nurses  all  round  about,  as  when  babes  are 
born  in  our  houses;  but  this  suddenness,  this  almost  un- 
readiness. But  angels  were  there,  and  God  was  there,  and 
God  is  preaching  "o  us  that  the  barest  is  enough  for  Him. 

Now,  do  not  look  too  high  or  too  low,  nor  too  far  away, 
but  take  hold  of  the  sign  and  do  not  lose  it ;  and  by  this 
sign  conquer  all  difficulties,  and  arrive  at  Christ  always. 
A  lowly  heart  and  a  literal  obedience,  Eemember  the 
word,  add  thou  not  to  His  words,  "lest  He  reprove  thee,  and 


A  HASTY  MAECH  FllOM  THE  FIELDS  TO  BETHLEHEM.       119 

thou  be  found  a  liar  unto  Him."  Take  not  away  from  His 
words,  for  that  is  another  way  of  blasphemy  ;  but  simply, 
as  God  has  spoken  from  heaven,  so  believe,  and  so  it  shall 
come  to  pass.  "  As  we  have  heard,  so  have  we  seen,"  in 
the  Word,  in  Providence,  in  our  own  experience  of  salva- 
tion, and  by-and-bye  in  the  city  of  our  God.  A  little 
farther  on  we  read,  "  And  the  shepherds  returned,  glorify- 
ing and  praising  God  for  all  the  things  that  they  had  heard 
and  seen,  as  it  was  told  unto  them."  There  never  was 
anything  like  the  Gospel  for  the  expectation  being  equalled 
by  the  realization.  You  notice  that  word  I  quoted  from 
the  Psalms  ;  it  is  a  word  of  profound  significance  in  all 
spiritual  things,  "  As  we  have  heard,  so  have  we  seen." 
The  shepherds  would  say  that  afterwards ;  when  they 
talked  about  it  they  would  say,  "As  the  angels,  yea,  as 
the  Lord  told  us,  so  we  saw  ;  we  went  to  Bethlehem  to  see 
this  thing,  and  the  thing  we  saw  just  as  had  been  said. 
We  neither  added  to  it  nor  took  from  it,  we  took  it  as  we 
got  it,  and  it  led  us  to  Jesus."  It  is  the  same  in  all 
interpretation  of  Scripture  and  interpretation  of  Providence, 
in  my  own  life  and  in  yours,  and  it  will  be  the  same  in 
heaven.  When  we  step  inside  and  see  the  Lord  on  His 
throne,  we  shall  say,  "As  we  have  heard,  so  have  we 
seen,  in  the  earthly  and  heavenly  Bethlehem,  the  exact 
glorious  accomplishment  and  fulfilment." 

How  quietly,  I  say  again,  Christ  was  born.  Is  it  not  an 
illustration  of  the  text,  "  The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not 
wdth  observation"?  It  was  late  in  the  evening.  Mary 
and  Joseph  had  come  a  four  days'  journey.  Other  people, 
swifter  of  foot,  passed  on  ahead  of  them,  but  for  reasons  we 
all  know  dear  Mary's  step  was  somewhat  heavy,  and  Joseph 
and  she  arrived  late.  All  the  places  of  entertainment  were 
full,  this  was  the  only  corner  that  was  left,  and  Mary  just 
got  there  in  time  w^hen  this  wonderful  thing  happened.  A 
few  pangs  and  pains,  keener  or  lesser  anguish,  we  do 
not  know,  and  lo,  the  Saviour  of  the  world  was  born ! 
No  heralding,  no  kings  or  mighty  men  or  women  there.     Is 


120      A  HASTY  MARCH  FROM  THE  FIELDS  TO  BETHLEHEM. 

it  not  SO  with  all  spiritual  birth?  Christ  '*  cometh  not 
with  observation."  One  day,  never  to  be  forgotten  through 
all  eternity,  your  pains  came  upon  you,  more  or  less  keen, 
but  severe  or  quiet,  it  does  not  matter — a  few  anxieties, 
greater  or  less,  longer  or  shorter  in  their  duration,  and 
Christ  ivas  horn  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory  !  It  had  come, 
it  had  happened,  what  many  a  time  you  wished  for,  and 
thought  and  hoped  would  come,  but  never  dreamed 
that  it  would  come  in  this  quiet  way.  You  were  thinking 
that  Christ  would  come  to  you  in  some  far  more  striking 
and  wonderful  way,  but  He  never  came.  Ah !  it  is  a 
striking  illustration  and  parallel — after  a  few  hours  or 
days,  I  do  not  know  how  long  or  short  it  may  be,  some 
longer,  some  shorter,  but  always  the  same  blessed  end,  we 
find  ourselves  when  faith  comes  "painless  and  at  peace," 
and  the  Christ  of  God,  like  a  glowing  coal,  lying  at  our 
heart,  and  we  bending  over  Him,  as  a  mother  over  her  first- 
born. ''  My  Jesus,  my  Saviour,  my  Life,  my  Lord,  my 
heaven  has  come  " — I  am  saved.  I  have  found  Jesus.  He 
has  found  me.  He  is  mine  and  I  am  His.  And  just  as 
quietly  as  that  first  birth,  so  God  in  Christ  always  comes  to 
these  hearts  of  ours. 

Now,  I  only  wanted  to  make  a  few  obvious  reflections, 
and  not  to  go  into  anything  like  a  sermon ;  and  it  is  exactly 
twelve  o'clock.  The  Lord  bless  to  us  all  our  short  service  this 
Christmas  morning.  Even  one  short  hour  (with  only  a  five- 
and-twenty  minutes'  sermon)  is  ample  time  to  take  us  from 
the  fields  of  our  earthly  toil  to  Bethlehem.  In  the  Master's 
name,  I  wish  you  a  Happy  Christmas,  and  may  some  soul 
find  the  Lord  at  Bethlehem  this  morning.  For  the  Babe  of 
Bethlehem  is  also  Christ  on  the  Cross,  and  the  Lord  upon 
the  Throne.  Who  would  reject  a  babe  ?  Come,  my  hearer, 
pick  up  this  Heavenly  Foundling,  and  give  Him  room  in 
heart  and  home.  Let  the  Cradle  as  well  as  the  Cross 
••  abolish  the  enmity."     Amen. 


Henderson  &  S^aldikg,  Printers,  i,  5  and  5,  JNIarylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


jlegent  gqiiaa  Jitl|rit. 


"LAUNCHING   OUT,"  "LETTING  DOWN,"   AND 
"LEAVING  ALL." 


Preached  in  Regent  Square  Presbyterian  Church, 
ON  Sabbath  Morning,  January  4th,  1891. 


REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL 


Text — "Launch  out  into  the  deep,  and  let  down  your  nets  for   a 
draught." — Luke  v.  4. 

This  morning,  then,  in  thought  and  fancy  our  Lord  begins 
with  us  in  a  most  pleasant  scene  ; — a  lovely  scene  to  Him, 
and  for  His  sake,  also,  a  lovely  scene  to  us — the  shores  of 
the  Sea  of  Galilee.  Having  learnt  McCheyne's  softly-flow- 
ing lines  in  early  youth  (lines  which  in  his  Memoir  are 
headed,  **  Sea  of  Galilee,  16  July,  1839  "),  one  can  scarcely 
refrain  from  repeating  them  here.  They  are  an  excellent 
commentary  on  Dean  Stanley's  saying  that  "  this  is  the 
most  sacred  sheet  of  water  that  the  earth  contains." 

*'  How  pleasant  to  mo  thy  deep  blue  wave, 
0  Sea  of  Galilee  ! 
For  the  glorious  One  who  came  to  save 
Hath  often  stood  by  tlico. 

**  Fair  are  the  lakes  in  the  land  I  love 
Where  pine  and  heather  grow 
But  thou  hast  loveliness  far  above 
What  nature  can  bestow. 

Vol.  III.— No.  9. 


122  "  LAUNCHING   OUT,"    "  LETTING   DOWN," 

"  It  is  not  that  the  wild  gazelle 
Comes  down  to  drink  thy  tide  ; 
But  He  that  was  pierced  to  save  from  h-ell 
Oft  wandered  by  thy  side. 

"  Graceful  around  thee  the  mountains  meet, 
Thou  calm  reposing  sea  ; 
But  ah  !  far  more  the  beautiful  feet 
Of  Jesus  walked  o'er  thee." 

Then  our  author  thinks  of  how,  on  its  shores,  in  the 
villages  and  towns  round  about,  our  Saviour  preached  the 
Gospel,  did  His  wonderful  works,  spake  His  words  of  grace, 
and  uttered  His  awful  threatenings :  "  Thou,  Capernaum, 
exalted  unto  heaven,  shalt  be  brought  down  to  hell ;  "  and 
again,  "  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin !  woe  unto  thee,  Beth- 
aaida ! "  Surely  every  faithful  minister  will  share  McCheyne's 
feelings : — 

"  Tell  me,  ye  mouldering  fragments,  tell, 
Was  the  Saviour's  city  here  ? 
Lifted  to  Heaven,  has  it  sunk  to  hell. 
With  none  to  shed  a  tear  ? 

'*  Ah  !  would  my  flock  from  thee  might  learn 
How  days  of  grace  will  flee; 
How  all  an  offered  Christ  who  spurn 
Shall  mourn  at  last,  like  thee. 

"  Oh  !  give  me,  Lord,  by  this  sacred  wave, 
'Threefold,'  Thy  love  divine, 
Tliat  I  may  feed,  till  I  find  my  grave, 
Thy  flock — both  Thine  and  mine. " 

Well,  such  is  the  scenery,  and  such  the  associated 
thoughts  that  surround  our  subject  this  morning.  Doesn't 
it  touch  our  hearts,  our  imagination,  and  help  to  bring  the 
Lord  and  this  old  time  near  to  us  ?  But  let  us  come  to 
our  subject.  "  Launch  out  into  the  deep,  and  let  down 
your  nets  for  a  draught."  You  remember  what  our  Lord 
had  been  doing.    He  had  been  teaching  the  people  out  of 


AND    "  LEAVING    ALL."  123 

that  boat,  and,  after  His  sermon  was  ended  (it  is  not 
recorded),  He  seems  at  once  to  have  remembered  the 
forlorn  state  of  His  followers,  the  depression  they  were 
in.  As  Simon  Peter  afterwards  told  Him,  they  had  toiled 
all  night  for  nothing.  It  was  scarcely  worth  while ;  He 
knew  already.  True,  Ho  likes  us  to  bring  to  Him  our 
requests — "In  every  thing  by  prayer  and  suppHcation  with 
thanksgiving  let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God  " 
— but  we  can  never  tell  Him  news ;  He  always  knows 
already.  He  needeth  not  that  any  should  tell  Him,  for  He 
knows  what  is  in  man,  and  He  knows  what  man  is  in.  So, 
thinking  of  His  followers  and  their  forlorn  condition.  He 
asked  Peter  to  "liaunch  out  into  the  deep,  and  let  down  the 
nets  for  a  draught." 

Here  is  a  new  command.  It  was  so  to  them ;  it  is  so  to 
us.  It  required  them  to  stretch  themselves,  and  to  find 
new  faith  and  new  obedience  in  this  new-found  Lord  and 
Saviour  may  it  do  to  us  to-day.     Let  it  be  our  motto 

for  the  fir  Sabbath  of  the  new  year :  "  Launch  out  into 
the  deep."  It  could  easily  have  been  objected  to.  Simon 
was  an  experienced  fisherman,  and  might  have  said,  "  But, 
Lord,  we  have  toiled  through  the  night,  and  the  night  is  the 
orthodox,  customary,  traditional,  proper  time  to  catch  fish. 
The  other  fishermen  will  laugh  at  us  if  they  see  us  fishing 
through  the  day."  But  the  Lord  knows  better  even  about 
catching  fish  than  we  do,  and  we  must  let  Him  "domineer" 
everywhere,  and  at  all  times  and  seasons.  Our  own 
wisdom,  and  our  own  past  experience,  whether  of  a  joyful 
or  sorrowful  kind,  has  sometimes  to  be  well-nigh  forgotten, 
if  we  are  to  stand  to  attention,  ready  for  orders.  "  As  the 
eyes  of  a  handmaid  are  towards  her  mistress,  so  do  our  souls 
wait  upon  thee,  O  Lord."      All  the  newness,  all  the  fresh- 


124  "  LAUNCHING    OUT,"    *'  LETTING    DOWN, 

ness,  all  hope  of  revival  is  there.  It  is  not  in  us,  or  in  any 
new  plans  we  can  excogitate  and  try.  Get  Him  aboard  the 
boat,  watch  the  look  of  His  eye,  listen  to  the  sound  of  His 
voice,  be  guided  by  Him,  and  we  will  always  be  having 
revivals,  and  renewings,  and  refreshings.  In  the  midst  of 
work  as  common  as  catching  fish  there  will  be  surprises. 
"Behold,"  He  says  to  us,  as  He  steps  on  board  our  boat — 
"Behold,  I  make  all  things  new." 

"  Launch  out  into  the  deep."      Be  done  with  your  in- 
shore fishing,  and  your  little  faith,   and  your  walking  by 
sight,  and  let  down  your  nets  for  a  draught.     Oh,  if  there 
is  anything  the  Church  of  God  still  needs,  it  is  what  the 
disciples  got  that  morning  by  the  lake- shore.      What  had 
they  made  of  it  ?   "  Master,  we  have  toiled  all  night,  and  have 
caught  nothing."     A  grand  combination — night  and  nothing. 
That  is  where  we  are  come  to.      It  is  a  familiar  road  with 
us — night  and  nothing;    a  dismal    pair.       Nothing    and 
nothing  make  nothing;  but  when  Christ  puts  Himself  at 
the  head  of  these  two  nothings,  as  the  integer,  there  is  100  ; 
there  is  cent,  per  cent,  of  profit  for  our  toil.     Night  and 
nothing — morning  and  the  Master,  morning  and  the  miracle, 
morning  and  the  overflowing  fulness.     O  Jesus,  Master, 
whose  we  are,  come  to  all  these  poor  fishing-boats,  fishing 
over  these  waters  of  London  by  the  hundred  and  the  thou- 
sand,  toiling  and  moiling  and  getting  cold  and  wet  and 
weary  and  disappointed  ;  a  very,  very  small  take,  if  any  at 
all.     Come,  blessed  Lord,  step  aboard,  take  charge,  order 
us  to  the  right  and  left,  make  the  biggest  of  us  mere  deck- 
hands.    Let  the  Great  Master's  voice  ring  from  stem  to 
stern  on  every  ship,  "  Launch  out  into  the  deep,  and  let 
down  your  nets  for  a  draught."     No  masters,  no  heutenants, 
no  officers,  no  *'  orders  of  clergy,"  everybody  just  a  deck- 


AND    "  LEAVING    ALL."  126 

hand  to  pull  ropes  aud  shoot  nets  when  He  comes.  When 
the  Lord's  away,  oh  we  play  fine  games  !  We  divide  the  boat 
into  the  officers'  quarters  and  the  forecastle,  and  we  walk 
majestically  upon  the  poop,  some  of  us,  and  spend  a  great 
deal  of  time  discussing  the  different  places  and  positions, 
and  the  rules  and  regulations  ; — how  far  my  command  is  to 
go,  and  where  it  is  to  stop,  and  on  what  chalk  line  your 
command  begins.  But  when  Christ  comes,  when  the  Lord 
causes  His  glorious  voice  to  be  heard,  then — silence  !  the 
Master  is  come.  Shortly  after  I  "  came  on  duty,"  one  raw, 
bitter  morning,  at  a  ticket  collecting  station,  a  heavy  special 
train  came  in.  The  engine  -  driver  jerked  his  thumb 
mysteriously  over  his  shoulder  as  he  drifted  past,  and  the 
front  guard,  jumping  off,  said,  "  Now,  lads,  look  alive,  the 
su;peri7ite?idcnt's  aboard  /  "  Ah  !  what  an  electric  shock  that 
gave  us  all.  Tor  to  us  at  that  distant  station  he  was  only  a 
name.  And  now  our  work  must  be  done  under  his  very 
eye !  For  there  he  was,  **  the  great  unknown,"  actually  out 
on  our  platform. 

Would  to  God  01. ^  text  might  give  us  that  stimulus,  that 
thrilling  sense  of  the  Lord's  Commanding  Presence  in  our 
very  midst ! 

"  Launch  out  into  the  deep,  and  let  down  your  nets  for  a 
draught."  Into  the  deei).  I  have  indicated  already  that, 
for  the  most  part,  this  fishing  was  done  during  the  night, 
and  most  likely  in-shore.  This  command  was  a  tax  on  "  com- 
mon sense,"  as  well  as  a  tax  on  their  faith  aud  obedience. 
Peter  might  well  have  spoken.  He  did  at  times  take  the  Lord 
fearfully  in  hand — speak  back  to  Him  and  speak  down  to 
Him.  I  wonder  that  here  he  did  not  go  wrong  in  the  same 
way.  It  was  a  great  strain  on  a  fisherman  to  go  in  broad 
daylight  and  revolutionize  the  whole   business,  or  rather 


126  "LAUNCHING    OUT,"    "LETTING    DOWN," 

revolutionize  and  expand  it.  Isn't  He  Baying  to  us  to-day, 
♦'  Launch  out  into  the  deep  "  ?  You  have  been  keeping  too 
close  in  shore,  so  that  if  rough  weather  came,  you  could 
save  you  lives  and  hastily  scurry  back  to  dry  land.  Isn't 
it  so  very  much  with  the  Church  of  God  ?  We  do  not  like 
to  launch  out ;  when  the  waters  get  deep  and  dark  and  the 
shore  distant,  ah !  then  we  get  nervous  and  timid.  Now, 
the  Lord  wants  us  away  from  the  shore,  to  get  us  into  the 
deep,  where  we  must  either  go  by  faith  or  quit  the 
business.  We  need  to  give  up  our  thoughts  and  past 
experiences,  and  look  to  Him  and  trust  Him  impUcitly. 
It  is  grand  when  the  Church  of  Christ,  when  the  individual 
believer,  gets  in  this  sense  into  deep  waters  and  out  of 
shallows.  "Those  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships,  that 
do  business  in  great  waters,  they  see  the  works  of  the 
Lord  and  His  wonders  in  the  deep ;  "  but  those  of  us  who 
are  always  paddling  by  little  creeks  and  bays  do  not  see  the 
wonders.  Why,  I  thought  I  had  seen  and  known  a  little 
about  the  sea ;  but  a  friend  who  has  travelled  all  over  the 
world  and  back  again,  who  has  dwelt  on  the  mighty  waters, 
told  me  things  the  other  day  in  my  own  house  that  made 
me  fairly  "  turn  "  inwardly  with  envy.  I  felt  myself  to  be 
a  mere  landlubber  or  "  longshoreman,"  who  doesn't  know 
anything,  who  is  a  pretender,  in  fact,  as  he  told  me  about 
great  seas,  tempests,  and  icebergs,  and  astonishing  effects 
of  sea,  and  cloud,  and  sky. 

What  an  education  it  is  when  Christ  takes  us  out  into 
the  deep  water  where  we  are  "off  soundings,"  and  must, 
like  little  children,  trust  Him  altogether. 

Have  you  got  into  the  depths  of  the  promise,  my  friend? 
Have  you  got  into  the  depths  of  the  meanings  of  God's 
Word  ?    Have  you  got  into  the  unexplored  depths  that  lie 


AND    '*  LEAVING    ALL."  127 

to  faith  and  experience  in  Christ's  person,  and  character, 
and  work  ?  Then  look  up  to  Him  this  morning  and  say, 
* '  Lord,  take  me  out  with  Thee  upon  the  great  deep.  Take  me 
farther  down  and  in,  away  from  the  land  and  its  tameness. 
Let  me  know  the  fascinations,  the  mystery,  and  miracle 
that  are  out  upon  the  great  deep  with  Thee."  "Launch 
out  upon  the  deep."  And  there  are  deeps — God's  Word, 
God's  grace,  God's  service,  God's  Christ — why,  we  only 
know  the  shore  and  the  shallows,  we  poor  shrimpers !  Oh 
that  we  might  this  year  get  to  know  far  more  than  ever  we 
have  known  of  the  depths,  the  riches,  the  immensity,  the 
endless  surprise  !  We  shalljbe  a  little  staggered  as  we  feel 
how  frail  we  are,  and  how  great  and  mighty  is  the  deep  of 
the  Divine  will  for  us  and  by  us.  **  Each  thought  of  Thine, 
a  deep  it  is."  The  Breton  fisherman's  prayer  may  well 
come  into  our  hearts  as  we  feel  the  swell  beneath  us  of  the 
immensity  of  God's  love,  and  God's  purpose,  and  God's 
promise :  "  Lord  have  mercy  upon  me ;  my  boat  is  so  little, 
and  Thy  sea  is  so  great."  Oh,  to  get  out,  and  down,  and 
in! 

When  we  lads  were  learning  to  swim,  we  never  would 
have  known  that  we  could  really  swim,  or  how  much 
we  could  swim,  unless  we  had  got  courageous  enough 
to  "launch  out."  For  always  when  we  went  in,  we 
went  in  shallow  water;  and  as  we  got  deeper  and 
deeper,  and  saw  the  bottom  getting  dimmer  and  dimmer, 
we  kept  within  our  depth,  so  that  if  we  got  scared  we 
could  at  once  put  down  our  feet  and  stand.  I  never 
should  have  known  if  I  had  stopped  at  that  what 
swimming  was,  and  that  on  one  memorable  day  I  should 
slog  through  some  three  miles  of  rough  open  sea.  I  never 
would  have  known  that,  if  it  had  not  been  that  one  day  I 


128  **  LAUNCHING   OUT,"    "  LETTING   DOWN," 

got  tired  of  trifling,  and  took  my  boat  and  went  away  out 
where  the  water  was  three  times  deeper  than  that  roof  is, 
and  flung  myself  in.  Then  I  proved  that  I  could  swim ; 
no  chance  of  getting  your  feet  on  the  bottom  there.  I  had 
got  past  all  former  experiences  and  calculations.  So  it  is 
with  God's  Church,  with  God's  servants,  with  all  God's 
people.  There  is  more,  there  is  deeper ;  and  faith  is  not 
rashness,  faith  is  not  extravagance.  Faith  discovers  that  it 
does  not  drown  when  it  gets  beyond  its  depth  and  off  its 
feet.  No,  bless  God,  His  grace  and  promise  become  "  a  river 
to  swim  in,  a  sea  that  cannot  be  passed  over."  Oh  to  feel 
the  lift  of  the  brimming  ocean  when  you  are  swimming — 
what  an  exhilaration !  Oh  to  know  the  same  also  in  our 
own  experience  of  the  Word  and  grace  of  our  inexhaustible 
Redeemer !  We  have  belittled  the  whole  concern  of  faith 
and  work  for  far  too  long. 

"  Launch  out  into  the  deep,  and  let  down  your  nets  for  a 
draught."  You  remember  how  Simon  obeyed  the  command : 
with  a  big  "  Nevertheless  at  Thy  word  I  will  let  down  the 
net."  Well,  he  might  have  done  it  better ;  but,  after  all,  it  is 
a  blessed  thing  when  we  do  obey  the  Lord.  We  may  even 
question  or  suggest  doubts  as  we  do  it,  but  the  grand  thing 
is  to  go.  Whether  we  go  gladly,  or  go  somewhat  reluctantly 
and  critically,  bless  God  if  we  go.  Still,  Simon  Peter  might 
have  spared  himself  this  sentence,  and  let  down  the  net, 
either  in  silence,  or  substituting  "Hallelujah  "  for  "  Never- 
theless." He  might  have  spared  all  his  wind  for  working; 
but  he  thought  it  right  to  say  something. 

It  was  an  occasion,  he  seems  to  have  thought,  for  just 
gently  reminding  the  Lord  that  "  I — I — I  know  a  little 
about  this  business  of  fishing,  and  if  there  should  be  a 
failure,  I  shall  have  something  to  say  later  on."     Was  he 


AND    "  LEAVING    ALL."  129 

giving  "notice  of  motion,"  I  wonder,  or  quietly  recording 
his  protest,  as  the  wise  brethren  do  when  something  new 
is  proposed  in  the  Presbytery?     '*  It  is  due  to  my  know- 
ledge and  past  experience  that  I  should  not,  silently  at  any 
rate,  and  without  caveat,  agree  to   this   new   departure." 
**  Lord,  if  it  were  any  other  person  than  Thyself !    But  see- 
ing that  it  is  Thee,  I  am  not  the  man  to  stand  in  the  way. 
Come,  let  us  have  them  out."     Well  done,  Peter!  although 
it  might  have  been  better  done.     Peter  is  a  going  man. 
When  the  Lord  is  there,  and  the  Lord  speaks,  well,  it  may 
be  hard  for  flesh  and  blood  to  bear,  and  it  may  be  strange 
and  new,  and  many  objections  could  be  raised,  **  But  I  will 
go  ;  at  Thy  word  I  will  let  down  the  net."     Let  us  do  what 
Simon  Peter  did,  but   let  us  do  it  more  implicitly.      No 
"  nevertheless."     Altogether,  it  would  be  better  for  us  not 
to  be  so  saving  and  cautious,  so  anxious  not  to  commit 
ourselves,  so   that   we   shall   be  free  to  say  if  a  failure 
should  set  in,   "  I  told  you  so."      Oh,  if  there  had  !     Oh 
dear  me,   if    the  fish    had    not    come,    what    a    mighty 
man  Simon  would  have  been!     "Now,  that  is  just  what 
I    was    going    to     say,    but    you  —  you    were    so    posi- 
tive.    To    start   this   business   at  this   time !     We   never 
did  it  before.     I  am  sure  I  never  agreed  with  it  all  along." 
And  too  much  of  that  spirit  may  prevent  the  Lord  from 
doing  His  work.     If  He  sees  we  are  hedging  too  much,  and 
want  to  safeguard  our  reputation  as  wise  men,  rather  than 
risk  it  to  honour  Him,  and  save  souls,  then — "  According 
to  our  faith,  or  faithlessness,  be  it  unto  us."     We  cannot 
deceive   Him.      "  Nay,   but   thou   didst   laugh,"  He   says 
sharply  to  us,  even  although  He  still  gives  us  the  blessing, 
at  the  promise  of  which  our  "wisdom"  smiled  incredulously 
— like  the  grinning  fool  it  is  I 


130  •'  LAUNCHING   OUT,"    "  LETTING   DOWN,'* 

Now,  I  do  not  want  to  be  severe  on  anybody  but  myself, 
but  to  all  of  us  Simon  Peter  here  is  both  an  example  and  a 
warning.  Take  care,  let  your  words  be  few,  and  let  your 
actions  be  prompt  and  whole-hearted.  He  might  well  have 
turned  round  and  said,  '*  Peter,  you  don't  mean  to  say  you 
ever  thought  of  doing  anything  else  ?  You  don't  mean  to 
say  there  is  any  virtue  or  merit  in  doing  this  new  thing 
AT  My  wobd  ?  "  At  His  word  the  heavens  were  of  old,  and 
the  earth  standing  out  of  the  water  and  in  the  water.  At 
His  word  the  light  came,  and  the  heavens  were  studded 
thick  with  stars.  "Thus  saith  the  Lord"  could  lift  old 
Ocean  from  its  bed,  and  make  the  hills  forsake  their  ancient 
seats. 

"  At  Thy  word  we  will  let  down  the  net.  And  when 
they  had  this  done,  they  inclosed  a  great  multitude  of 
fishes ;  and  their  net,"  literally,  in  the  Greek,  "  was  at 
the  bursting."  So,  then,  what  we  are  all  calling  for,  times 
of  enlargement,  times  of  success,  times  of  blessing,  we  might 
have  at  any  moment,  if  we  would  only  believe  and  obey. 
The  revivals  are  all  lying  there  in  the  Word.  The  Lord 
has  made  Himself  over  to  us.  Add  all  the  New  Testament 
to  this  miracle,  and  see  how  the  Lord  has  made  Himself 
over  to  His  Church  and  people,  and  has  said  to  us,  over 
and  over  again,  "  Ye  are  not  straitened  in  Me :  ye  are 
straitened  in  yourselves.  According  to  your  faith  be  it 
unto  you."  "  When  they  had  this  done,  they  inclosed  a 
great  multitude  of  fishes."  It  is  the  hardest  thing  in  the 
world  for  flesh  and  blood  to  hear  Christ  and  obey  Him ; 
but  when  He  is  heard  and  obeyed,  the  result  is  always  as 
here.  The  programme  was,  "  Launch  out  into  the  deep 
with  Me.  Let  Me  be  skipper  this  time.  Try  fishing  on 
My  plan."     And  the  result  was  what  He  had  anticipated — 


AND    "  LEAVING   ALL."  131 

a  draught.  "  They  inclosed  a  great  multitude  of  fishes, 
WHEN  THEY  HAD  THIS  DONE  " — uevei'  before.  When  they 
looked  at  Him,  and  He  at  them,  when  He  commanded, 
and  they  obeyed — cause  and  effect  in  the  spiritual  world,  1 
had  almost  said,  is  more  certain,  is  more  discoverable, 
than  in  the  natural, — "  they  inclosed  a  great  multitude  of 
fishes,  and  their  net  was  at  the  bursting."  Ah!  that  Sea 
of  Galilee,  is  it  not  like  this  London  ?  Among  its  other 
wonders  it  had  this  one  :  it  teemed  with  fish.  And  there 
were,  at  this  very  time,  thousands  of  vessels  on  that  lake, 
a  piece  of  water  only  twelve  miles  long  by  five  broad. 
Now,  is  it  not  like  London?  What  a  seething  sea  of 
humanity  this  is !  And  yet  there  are  boats  out  fishing 
for  souls,  and,  just  like  Simon  Peter  and  his  partners, 
toiling  all  night  and  catching  nothing.  There  is  nothing 
more  uncertain  than  success  in  catching  fish — nothing 
except  success  in  catching  men.  There  were  multitudes 
all  round  about,  as  these  men  knew ;  the  lake  teemed 
with  fish,  but  they  could  not  catch  one.  And  that  is  just 
it ;  if  we  go  out  either  to  catch  fish  or  men,  we  need 
Divine  power  and  blessing. 

So  He  comes  to  us  to-day.  Now,  Sabbath-school  teacher, 
preacher,  Bible-class  teacher,  launch  out  into  the  deep 
this  year.  In  simple  faith  let  down  your  nets  for  fish 
where  you  let  them  down  before,  and  failed  before.  Last 
Sabbath  you  sighed  and  said,  "  I  will  give  up  this  mission  ; 
I  will  give  up  preaching ;  I  will  give  up  the  Sabbath  school  ; 
I  will  give  up  Chequer  Alley."  Our  friends  there  signifi- 
cantly have  re-baptized  that  work  "  Hope  Mission,"  instead 
of  the  old  chequered  name.  And  there  is  a  lesson  for  us. 
Give  things  even  new  names ;  call  your  work  **  Hope 
Mission,"  for  there  is  to  be  a  draught,     "jl  will  not  give  up, 


132  "  LAUNCHING   OUT,       **  LETTING    DOWN, 

but  I  will  go  back  to-day  with  Christ,  and,  looking  to  Him, 
I  shall  do  the  old  routine  work  in  a  new  spirit.  If  it  is  to 
be  according  to  my  faith,  then  here  goes!  I  am  surely 
going  to  have  faith  that  something  is  going  to  come  of  my 
teaching." 

What  a  Saviour  we  have  !     He  has  power  everywhere,  in 
the  spiritual  as  well  as  in  the  material  world.     I  remember 
in  the  place  where  I  was  brought  up  there  was  a  bridge 
over   a  burn,  and  how  often  we  lads,  with  our  primitive 
fishing-rod,  and   primitive   string,  ai.d  primitive   hook — a 
bent  pin — used  to  lean  over  that  bridge  and  watch  the  fish 
during   lovely   summer   days.      Of   course,  we  could    not 
possibly  catch  them.     It  was  too  clear.     They  are  as  wide 
awake  as  you  are,  perhaps  more  so.      But  we  used  to  bend 
over  and  look  at  them.     See  that  big  fellow  there,   lying 
stem  and  stern  up  and  down  stream  !     And  in  a  minute,  in 
the   sixtieth  part  of   a  minute— look !   he   is   here,  there, 
everywhere.     What  a  hundred  directions  a  fish  can  go  in 
in  less  time  than  you  can  calculate,  and  yet  never ^  never  go 
near  your  halt.    Ah !  how  often  those  who  are  trying  to  catch 
men,   to   save  souls,  feel  there   is  much   meaning  in  the 
expression,  "  as  uncertain,  as  tricky,  as  slippery  as  a  fish." 
Men  go  in  flocks  to  certain  kinds  of  places;   flocking  to 
theatres,  flocking  to  public-houses,  flocking  to  race-courses, 
flocking    to    business,    to    births,    weddings,    or    burials, 
to    all    sorts   of    **  cried   gatherings,"   but   the   House  of 
God  where  the  Gospel  is   preached.     They  are  all  round 
about  us,  and  we  never  catching  one !    My  God,  it  is  not  to 
be  !    It  will  never  do  for  London,  or  anywhere  else.      Give 
us  souls,  or  we  die !     Success  !  let  me  see  it.     True,  the 
'  Lord  does  sometimes  try  our  faith,  and  makes  us  toil  for 
nothing,  but  He  does  not  stop  at  that.     It  is  to  bring  us 


AND    "  liEAVINQ   ALL."  133 

away  from  ourselves,  and  make  our  weariness,  and  failure, 
and  disappointment  cause  us  to  look  round  for  the  living 
God.  There  He  is  in  our  midst,  and  in  a  moment,  by  His 
word  and  blessing,  when  it  is  sought,  and  His  word 
obeyed,  weariness  gives  place  to  rejoicing,  and  emptiness  to 
overflowing  fulness.     May  it  be  so  in  all  the  London  Fleet. 

"  Launch  out  into  the  deep,  and  let  down  your  nets  for  a 
draught."  He  has  power  ;  He  can  control  that  most  incon- 
trollable  quantity  in  God's  universe — the  heart  and  will  of 
a  sinner.  He  can  bring  men  to  us,  and  through  us,  to  Him- 
self ;  and  He  will  do  so,  when  His  Church  lets  Him  by  her 
obedience  and  faith, 

*'  And  they  beckoned  unto  their  partners,  which  were  in 
the  other  ship,  that  they  should  come  and  help  them.  And 
they  came,  and  filled  both  ships,  so  that  they  began  to 
sink."  I  can  barely  touch  on  this;  but  oh,  that  Begent 
Square  might  be  filled  with  anxious  souls,  that  we  should 
need  to  call  in  this  Baptist  brother  here,  round  the  corner, 
and  this  big  Government  trawler,  the  Episcopal  Church,  at 
the  other  corner,  to  bear  a  hand  in  securing  the  take.  For 
we  are  partners.  In  Christ,  we  are  all  one  body ;  we  are 
all  in  one  service  and  all  doing  the  same  work.  Let  us 
enlarge  our  hearts  and  widen  our  thoughts,  and  from  this 
day  and  forward,  wherever  we  find  the  name  of  Christ 
named,  and  souls  being  saved,  form  ourselves  into  a  grand 
Evangelical  Alliance.  They  beckoned  to  the  partners  who 
were  in  the  other  boat,  and  they  came  and  they  got  filled 
too.  Depend  upon  it,  the  best  way  to  bring  the  Churches 
together  is  to  have  a  grand  ingathering  of  souls,  anywhere. 
We  shall  get  united  then  and  there,  as  far  as  union  is  worth 
anything.  It's  a  grand  thing  when  the  heap  of  fish  sinks 
every  difference  out  of  sight.     The  Lord  put  "the  boats" 


134  "  LAUNCHING  OUT,"    **  LETTING   DOWN," 

out  of  our  sight.  We  see  them  and  their  bareness  far  too 
much.  To  change  the  figure,  when  the  prodigal  comes 
home,  we  begin  to  make  merry. 

"  When  Simon  Peter  saw  it,  he  fell  down  at  Jesus'  knees, 
saying,  Depart  from  me ;  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord." 
Simon  is  not  an  easy  man  to  measure  or  reckon  at  times. 
Sometimes  he  is  extremely  small,  and  sometimes  he  is  very 
big.  He  is  sometimes  a  mere  thirty-three  and  a  quarter 
inches,  enough  for  this  degenerate  British  Army ;  but  other 
times,  a  full  forty-two  round  the  heart.  This  was  not  little- 
ness in  Simon,  it  was  greatness ;  a  grand  state,  after  all,  to 
be  in.  There  is  a  state  below  this,  as  Trench  beautifully 
points  out,  a  state  that  knows  itself  a  sinner,  and  knows  He 
is  the  Saviour,  but  is  utterly  callous  and  indifferent.  There 
is  a  state  above  it,  and  this  is  where  I  want  you  to  be  at  the 
Communion  Table  this  morning.  The  state  that  knows  its 
sin,  deep,  desperate  awful  sin,  but  so  loves  the  Saviour  that 
fear  is  utterly  cast  out.  In  a  little,  with  this  Bread  and 
Cup  in  our  hands,  we  will  be  saying,  "  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O 
Lord  "  ;  but  by  these  tokens  our  fears  are  charmed  away, 
and  we  would  rise  into  the  high  degree  of  confident  love 
that  says,  "  He  loved  me,  He  gave  Himself  for  me." 

He  did  not  mean  the  Lord  to  depart;  of  course  he  didn't. 
He  really  meant  the  Lord  to  come.  Don't  you  see,  when 
the  Lord  comes  near  and  blesses  us,  what  a  blesssing  we  get? 
How  we  are  broken  downwards  and  upwards  also.  How 
all  the  old  state  is  rent,  and  torn,  and  deepened,  and 
bottomed,  and  widened ;  and  that  is  what  we  need.  Oh, 
we  are  as  timid  as  timid  can  be  !  We  think  we  know  about 
catching  fish,  and  about  the  Lord,  and  what  prayer  is,  and 
what  pleading  the  promises  is ;  but  we  do  not  know  any- 
thing as  we  might  know  it,  and  as  by  grace  we  must  and 


AND    *'  LEAVING   ALL."  135 

shall  know  this  year.  If  Christ  shall  only  come,  sin  shall 
be  black,  damned,  foul,  unspeakable.  My  sin,  yours,  my 
fellow-elder,  yours  and  mine,  our  iniquities,  our  corruptions 
will  make  us  say  to  Christ,  "Thou  art  too  pure;  stand  back 
and  leave  us  to  our  shame  and  misery."  And  then  the 
other  feeling,  "  No,  no,  Christ  is  so  great.  His  love  so 
boundless.  His  atoning  work  so  splendid  and  glorious, 
that  there  is  no  fear;  sinner  as  I  am,  broken,  useless, 
empty  though  I  be.  He  speaketh  to  me,  and  smileth  on 
me,  on  me  He  lavisheth  His  love."  I  tell  you  it  will 
never  do  to  stop  at  the  past ;  it  will  never  do  in  this 
world,  and  we  must  get  rid  of  it  to-day. 

For  he  was  astonished  at  the  multitude  of  fishes  that 
were  taken,  Remember,  that  was  a  fisherman  astonished 
at  a  big  take  of  fish.  It  was  not  a  landlubber  who  never 
saw  fish  coming  out  of  the  sea.  A  man  like  Peter  had 
often  seen  takes,  and  often  seen  big  takes ;  but  when  he 
saw  this,  he  saw  the  Lord  in  it  as  he  never  did  before. 
That  the  Lord  should  fill  his  woven  willows,  that  the  Lord 
Himself,  after  a  night  of  disappointment,  should  break  out 
upon  him,  not  in  judgment,  but  in  mercy,  that  broke  Peter's 
heart  in  twain,  and  then  healed  it ! 

May  we  get  that  experience,  for  oh,  your  preacher  needs 
it,  and  you  need  it:  that  Christ  should  come  to-day  as 
though  it  were  the  beginning  of  days,  and  make  us  in  the 
midst  of  our  oldness  altogether  new.  He  was  astonished, 
I  say.  Some  of  us  should  be,  my  hearers.  I  would  not 
deal  with  this  too  spiritually.  Has  God  blessed  you 
temporally  ?  Look  at  that  great  ghttering  heap  ;  look  at 
your  piles  of  wealth.  Your  efforts  ?  No,  look  you,  God  has 
multiplied  and  increased  you  on  every  side  during  past 
years.     Now,  stand  with  the  heap  before  you  and  tell  me, 


136        "launching  out,"  "letting  down,"  etc. 

Who  did  it  ?  Who  brought  it  there  ?  Who  gave  it  to  you  ? 
Instead  of  emptiness,  and  leanness,  and  poverty,  and 
distress,  He  gave  to  you  heaps  upon  heaps,  good  measure, 
pressed  down,  running  over.  Down  on  your  knees,  I  charge 
you,  and  say,  "  I  am  a  sinful  man.  By  Thy  mercies, 
unmerited  and  undeserved,  I  see  my  guilt  as  never  before. 
Lord,  Thou  hast  killed  me  with  kindness." 

And  then  Peter  tumbled  into  the  same  net  as  the  fish 
were  in,  and  the  Lord  got  them  all.  That  is  the  end  of  it. 
He  was  fishing  for  the  fishermen,  and  He  is  always  doing 
that.  If  He  is  blessing  your  business,  if  He  is  blessing 
your  family,  it  is  to  get  you  ;  it  is  you  He  wants.  He  is 
calling  you  thus  to  leave  all,  that  you  may  find  your  all  in 
Him.  In  some  cases  He  brings  us  to  Himself  by  sorrow 
and  distress,  and  in  other  cases  He  brings  us  by  overflowing 
goodness.  The  goodness  of  the  Lord  at  last  makes  us  break 
out  in  penitence,  and  prayer,  and  consecration  to  His 
service. 

Now,  to-day  we  are  coming  to  His  Table.  I  invite  you 
altogether;  and  if  you  may  not  come  to  the  Table,  you 
are  welcome  to  stop  and  look  on.  Drink  only  with  your 
eyes;  but  through  them,  in  faith,  enjoy  the  riches  that 
Christ  has  brought  us.  And  as  you  enjoy  them  pour  out 
your  soul  before  Him,  and  say  to  Him,  "  Master,  I  will 
follow  Thee.  Master,  I  will  be  Thine,  I  will  be  altogether 
Thine;  for  Thou  hast  so  blessed  me  that  I  cannot  live 
without  Thee.  Not  on  Thy  gifts  even  will  I  look,  but 
on  the  pierced  hand  from  which  they  all  come.  To  be  in 
fellowship  with  Thee  is  to  be  blessed  for  evermore." 
Amen. 

Henderson  S:  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  s,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


^t%tnt  §qmxt  f  ulpit 


THE  BOY  WITH  THE  DUMB  AND  DEAF  SPIRIT. 


Preached  in  Eegent   Square  Presbyterian  Church, 
ON  Sabbath  Morning,  January  11th,  1891. 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


Text — Mark  ix.  from  the  14th  verse. 

Evidently  it  would  not  have  been  good  for  some  people  if 
Peter's  word  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  could  have 
been  fulfilled.  "  Master,"  he  said,  ''it  is  good  for  us  to  be 
here  ;  and  let  us  build  three  tabernacles."  There  was  some 
selfishness  in  it,  I  rather  think.  Away  up  there  in  the 
inidst  of  the  heavenly  glory,  it  was  sweet,  selfishly  sweet,  to 
forget  the  fever,  and  the  fretting,  and  the  groaning  in  the 
sinful  world  beneath.  But  Peter's  wish  was  not  obeyed. 
The  Master  left  the  glory.  The  vision  faded.  He  came 
with  His  disciples  back  again  into  this  weary,  sin-stained,, 
distracted  world.  Ah  !  surely  the  Lord  would  have  us 
learn  here  something  of  His  infinite  condescension.  The 
brightness  of  the  heavenly  glory  on  the  mountain-top  is 
brought  into  such  swift  and  sudden  contact  with  the  sin 
and  wretchedness  at  the  mountain's  foot.  How  true  must 
Vol.  III.— No.  10. 


138  THE   BOY   WITH   THE    DUMB    AND    DEAF    SPmiT. 

be  the  compassion,  how  strong  and  real  the  love  of  our  God, 
as  seen  in  Christ  Jesus,  for  the  sons  of  men  when  He  came 
back  again !  Think  you  how  through  the  night  our  Lord 
had  been  up  near  heaven.  If  He  had  only  lifted  His  foot 
and  made  a  kind  of  long  step,  he  would  have  been  off  and 
away  !  Here,  on  the  summit  of  this  heaven-kissing  hill — 
if  that  expression  can  be  applied  to  any  eminence  in  this 
world — He  was  surely  near  home.  Another  step,  and  He 
could  have  been  in,  as  I  have  said.  Another  step,  and  He 
could  have  saved  Himself  the  agony  of  the  Cross — a  word 
of  such  meaning  to  Him  as  we  shall  never  be  able  fully  to 
understand. 

How  great  His  compassion  that  He  came  back  again !  I 
don't  suppose  many  people  are  coming  back  from  warm, 
genial,  sunny  climes,  from  the  South  of  France,  or  from 
Madeira,  for  example,  to  London  just  now.  You  write  and 
tell  your  friends  about  the  fog,  and  frost,  and  bursting 
pipes,  the  abounding  distress  and  disease,  and  I  do  not 
think  they  will  come  here  by  the  first  boat.  Now,  Jesus, 
on  that  mountain-top,  met  with  His  Father,  and  Moses, 
and  Elias ;  the  first  society  of  heaven  was  round  about 
Him  again ;  and  I  tell  you  it  is  a  marvel  He  came 
back.  We  don't  half  thank  Him.  We  look  on  it  as  a 
matter  of  fact.  "  Of  course  He  came  down  !  "  Let  us 
never  forget  He  was  human,  and  when  He  was  near  heaven 
might  there  not  have  been  a  strong  inclination  just  to  run 
in,  when  He  was  so  near.  Yet  back  He  came,  back  into 
the  fog,  back  into  the  foul  smell,  back  into  the  coldness, 
back  into  the  groans^  and  cares,  and  tears,  back  into  the 


THE  BOY  WITH  THE  DUMB  AND  DEAF  SPIRIT.     139 

-contradiction  of  sinners  against  Himself,  back  into  a  world 
that  was  sawing  the  wood  and  getting  ready  the  nails  and 
hammers  that  were  to  fasten  Him  to  the  cruel  Cross. 
Surely  His  delights  are  with  the  sons  of  men.  We  do  not 
pace  step  by  step  along  with  Him,  and  try  to  get  into  His 
very  heart — the  great  human-Divine  heart  of  His — or  we 
would  love  Him  better  than  we  do,  and  help  Him  more 
faithfully.  In  the  midst  of  all  the  trouble  and  toil  of  time 
we  would  be  glad  that  we  have  daily  opportunities  for 
walking  even  as  He  walked ;  the  very  sin  and  wretched- 
ness continually  opening  up  ready  occasions  for  the  exer- 
cise of  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Our  heaven,  like  His,  will 
keep,  while  we  are  accomplishing  our  allotted  task. 

You  remember  the  scene  which  the  Gospel  narrative 
brings  before  us.  The  Scribes  and  other  gainsayers  had 
got  the  disciples  into  a  difficulty.  This  man  with  his 
lunatic  boy  has  come  to  the  "remnant"  of  the  band.  They 
were  bereft  of  Jesus,  and  of  the  "three  mighties";  and  a 
small  and  feeble  fragment  they  felt  themselves  to  be.  Still, 
they  were  Christ's  disciples,  and  they  ought  to  have  had 
power.  He  gave  power  to  the  whole  twelve  over  this  form 
of  evil.  More  than  that,  the  seventy  on  their  mission  had 
power  to  cast  out  devils.  This,  then,  wasn't  a  new,  unfore- 
seen, or  untried  difficulty.  But  they  were  dispirited, 
pushed  into  a  corner.  Their  condition  and  surroundings 
make  that  vivid  and  immortal  picture  by  Raphael.  The 
Scribes  coining  crushing  round  them,  the  exulting  looks  on 
the  faces  of  the  enemy,  the  distressed  father  and  "possessed  " 
boy,  the  cowed,  puzzled,  distracted  look  on  the  faces  of  the 


140  THE    BOY    WITH    THE    DUMB    AND    DEAF    SPIRIT. 

disciplefi.  How  heartless  it  is!  The  Church  of  Christ  is  still  so 
beset.  Still,  anybody  can  pelt  us  with  questions  we  cannot 
answer.  It  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  look  at 
human  nature  and  society,  then  point  to  the  Church  of 
Christ,  and  say,  **  Where  is  your  power?  Ye  be  triflers, 
ye  be  liars.  Ye  say  ye  can  cure,  and  look — look  at 
the  East  End,  and  the  West  End !  Look  at  human 
nature  everywhere  after  eighteen  centuries  of  yoiir 
Christianty ! "  It  is  easy  for  sceptics  to  hurl  objections, 
but  they  seem  to  forget  that  we  have  one  way,  at  least,  oi 
turning  the  tables.  He  forgets,  our  friend  the  enemy,  that 
here  is  a  problem  for  all  of  us.  This  man,  with  the  lunatic 
lad,  belongs  to  you,  friend,  as  much  as  to  me.  This  is  a 
man,  a  member  of  the  human  race,  of  our  own  blood.  We 
are  all  afflicted  in  his  affliction  ;  and  the  part  of  humanity, 
not  to  speak  of  higher  considerations  at  all,  ought  to  be 
this :  that  if  the  Church  of  Christ  has  no  power,  then,  so 
far  from  a  spirit  of  triumph  being  shown  because  she  has 
failed,  all  men  ought  to  be  in  deeper  distress ;  for  what 
looked  to  be,  at  one  time,  a  kindly  light,  has  sputtered  a 
while,  and  then  gone  out.  Who  of  us  is  not  suffering  from 
the  oppression  of  the  devil  ?  Not  one  ;  not  a  heart,  not  a 
home,  not  a  soul  in  all  God's  world.  And  yet,  so 
subtle  is  his  working,  so  does  he  deceive,  not  ignorant 
people,  but  so  can  he  deceive  the  Scribes,  and  huckster 
the  Huxley s,  that  they  actually  gather  round  the 
Church  with  a  look  of  triumph  upon  their  faces : 
"  Ye  are  baffled  !  Hurrah  !  The  Church  is  beaten  !  Glory! 
This  Jesus  is  neither  Prince  nor  Saviour  I    Ha  !  ha  I     The 


THE    BOY   WITH    THE    DUMB    AND    DEAF    SBIKIT.  141 

pulpit  has  lost  its  power  !  Oh,  happy  day  !  "  If  it  doesn't 
mean  that,  what  does  it  mean  ?  God  pity  them  !  forgetting 
it  was  their  own  sorrow  and  heart-break,  as  well  as  that  of 
the  father  and  the  badgered  disciples.  Oh,  what  a  scene 
this  is  !  It  was  all  filled  with  devil !  The  devil  in  the  son, 
the  devil  of  doubt  in  the  father,  the  devil  of  malignant  criti- 
cism in  the  Scribes,  and  the  devil  of  unbelief  in  the  disciples' 
hearts.  As  London  streets  and  squares,  north,  south,  east, 
and  west,  can  get  packed  full  of  fog  till  you  cannot  see  an 
arm's  length,  and  human  homes  and  hearts  are  as  though 
they  were  not ;  so  this  world  has  got  full  of  the  mist,  and 
malaria,  and  miasma  from  the  pit.  It  has  crept  up  and 
spread  till  the  stench  of  it  is  in  every  nostril,  and  the  con- 
tagion of  it  is  creeping  like  a  fog  through  all  the  passages  and 
chambers  of  the  soul.  I  say  again,  this  poor  father  and 
son  ought  to  have  been  the  burden  of  every  human  being 
who  came  within  sight  or  sound  of  them. 

"  And  Jesus  asked  the  Scribes,  What  question  ye  with 
them  ?  And  one  of  the  multitude  answered  and  said. 
Master,  I  have  brought  unto  Thee  my  son,  which  hath  a 
damb  spirit."  And  he  described  his  affliction.  I  like  that. 
Let  broken  hearts  tell  their  own  tale.  We  will  have  no 
theorizing  and  no  speculating,  if  you  please,  about  sin.  But 
let  sinful  men  and  women,  afflicted  and  plagued  in  them- 
selves, in  their  families,  and  beloved  friends,  stand  up  and 
tell  their  tale.  It  is  rather  striking  and  encouraging  that, 
when  the  Lord  puts  the  question,  "What's  the  trouble? 
What's  it  all  about  ?  "  the  Scribes  did  not  speak,  and  the 
disciples  did  not  speak,  but  a  broken-hearted,  white-faced 


142  THE    BOY   WITH   THE    DUMB   AND    DEAF    SPIRIT. 

trembling  man  in  the  crowd  says,  "  Here  !  It's  this  lad  of 
mine."  That's  right ;  speak  out,  you !  You  with  the 
broken  heart,  speak  out.  You  with  the  drunken  wife,  speak 
out.  You  with  the  unclean  heart,  speak  out.  It  is  you  we 
want  to  hear ;  not  arguings,  and  abstractions,  and  wordy 
strifes.  These  men  and  women  know  what  they  are  talking 
about,  for  sin  and  the  devil  to  them  are  awful  butchering 
realities.  "  See  my  bleeding  breast.  See  my  ruined  family — 
as  if  a  bombshell  had  landed  in  the  very  heart  of  my  home, 
and  scattered  death  and  destruction  everywhere." 

That  is  the  voice  God  wants  to  hear,  that  is  the  voice 
Jesus  wants  to  hear — the  voice  of  agony  and  distress,  the 
voice  of  reality.  For  this  trouble  is  real.  It  is  not  working 
up  a  case,  it  is  not  much  ado  about  nothing.  There  is  no 
getting  over  stubborn  facts ;  sin  is  here,  and  it  is  an  awful 
reality;  it  is  no  philosophical  abstraction,  it  is  a  fearful 
blight  in  human  flesh,  in  human  hearts,  in  human  homes, 
in  a  world  that  God  has  made. 

"  Jesus  answered  him,  and  said,  0  faithless  generation, 
how  long  shall  I  be  with  you  ?  how  long  shall  I  suffer  you  ? 
bring  him  unto  Me."  There  is  a  mingling  here  of  Pain  and 
Power.  I  have  been  talking  about  the  father's  grief  and 
the  lad,  and  our  own  griefs  :  there  is  a  keener  and  a  deeper. 
All  our  sorrow  was  meeting  already  on  the  heart  of  Christ. 
"  Do  not  limit  to  three  days  the  sorrows  that  redeemed  the 
world."  Here  already  He  is  bearing  our  griefs  and  carrying 
our  sorrows.  But  the  deepest  pang  in  His  pain  is  the 
unbelief,  the  faithlessness.  And,  alas !  what  are  we 
saying  and  doing  to  free  Him  from  that  pang  to-day?     **  O 


THE    BOY   WITH   THE    DUMB    AND   DEAF   SPIRIT.  143 

faithless  generation  " —  He  meant  this  for  His  whole  time 
and  circumstance,  and  He  applies  it  to  us  to-day,  for  far 
too  forceful  is  the  application  still — "  How  long  shall  I  be 
with  you?  how  long  shall  I  suffer  you?"  His  was  — 
shall  I  call  it  grief,  or  shall  I  call  it  anger,  or  shall  I  call  it 
a  mingling  of  both — the  anger  of  a  loving  heart,  the  anger 
that  strives  with  tears,  the  anger  of  one  who  loves  to 
bless  us,  but  is  roused  by  our  "  thrawnness,"  by  our  almost 
invincible  ignorance  ?    You  remember  Coleridge's  lines  : — 

"  To  he  angry  with  one  we  love 

Dotli  work  like  madness  on  the  brain." 

*'  0  Judgment !  thou  art  fled  to  brutish  beasts,  and  men 
have  lost  their  reason."  "  0  faithless  generation,  how 
long  shall  I  be  with  you? — that  is  the  Pain.  ** Bring  him 
unto  Me  " — that  is  the  Power.  Or,  the  one  is  the  angry 
glare  of  the  lightning  across  the  darkened  heaven ;  the 
other,  the  descending  rain  upon  the  thirsty  land.  "Bring 
him  unto  Me." 

"  And  they  brought  him  unto  Him :  and  when  he  saw 
Him,  straightway  the  spirit  tare  him ;  and  he  fell  on  the 
ground,  foaming."  You  have  also  the  description,  in  the 
18th  verse,  '*  He  foameth,  and  gnasheth  with  his  teeth,  and 
pineth  away."  Again,  in  the  22nd  verse,  "  And  ofttimes 
it  hath  cast  him  into  the  fire,  and  into  the  waters  to  destroy 
him."  The  idea  that  comes  to  one  here  is  this  :  the  tyranny 
of  sin.  I  am  thinking  of  those  violent  forms  of  sin  that  we 
see  all  round  about  us — roaring  drunkenness,  destroying 
lust.    Ah  !  we  are  apt  to  turn  away  from  these  awful  sins 


144  THE    BOY   WITH    TEE    DUMB    AND    DEAF    SPIKIT. 

with  a  feeling  of  loathsomeness.  But  let  me  remind  you 
of  the  tyranny  of  sin — of  that  stage  to  which  any  of  us 
might  come  but  for  constraining  and  restraining  grace. 
Oh,  the  men  and  women  in  London  to-day  who  are,  like 
this  lad,  harried  by  the  devil !  He  has  mounted  them, 
he  has  got  the  reins  in  his  fist,  got  the  spurs  on  his 
heels,  got  the  whip  in  his  hand,  and  "  Now  !  now  !  now  ! 
To  hell  with  you !  "  Into  the  fire !  Into  the  water  I 
What  for  ?  To  destroy  him  !  That  is  sin,  in  you, 
in  me,  in  the  world  everywhere.  Not  a  thing,  again  I  say, 
that  you  can  philosophize  about ;  but  a  Jack-the-Eipper 
among  us  here,  mad,  staring,  satanic ;  more  than  human ; 
roots  in  it  that  we  cannot  reach  or  understand.  Oh  the 
tyranny  of  sin!  Am  I  speaking  to  any  poor  soul  here 
lashed  with  his  lusts,  mastered  by  sin  ?  Dear  soul,  I  pity 
you ;  from  the  depths  of  my  soul,  I  pity  you.  If  a  touch 
of  Christ's  own  compassion  was  only  given  to  us  to-day, 
with  what  changed  eyes  we  should  look  upon  those  who 
are  "possessed."  How  our  hearts  would  break  out  at  our 
eyes  in  floods  of  tears  as  we  thought  not  only  of  their  own 
share,  that  was  the  procuring  cause  of  this  last  state,  but, 
now  the  stage  of  possession  has  come,  at  their  helplessness. 
There  is  a  man  you  know,  and  you  get  angry  with  him, 
and  say,  *'  I  thought  he  was  going  to  change.  I  thought 
we  had  sobered  him  up.  I  thought  his  last  outburst  would 
cure  him.  For  it  was  dreadful.  He  drank,  and  drank  ; 
he  spent  all ;  he  pawned  his  wife's  clothes  as  well  as  his 
own ;  took  the  boots  off  the  children's  feet,  and  the  clothes 
of  their  bed,  for  drink.  And  I  thought  that  would  cure 
him."  And  the  same  thing  happened  again  last  week. 
And  you  begin  to  get  tired  of  him.  God  pity  him  !  He  is 
driven  ;  you  do  not  know,  I  do  not  know,  none  but  Christ 


THE    BOY   WITH    THE    DUMB    AND    DEAF    SPIRIT.  145 

knows,  how  that  man  turns  aside  to  weep  scalding  tears — 
tears  that  come  down  the  cheeks  like  vitriol,  scoring  furrows 
as  they  descend.  He  sees  it  all ;  he  knows  it  all ;  he  sees 
what  he  is  doing,  he  knows  what  is  ahead  of  him.  But 
the  awful  thought  through  it  all  is,  "I  will  be  back  again 
when  the  dram  shops  open,  even  on  the  blessed  Sabbath 
day."  "  When  I  awake  I  will  seek  it  yet  again."  '*  More 
-drink  !  more  lust !"  at  the  back  of  a  storm  of  tears,  and  of 
fierce  denunciation  of  himself  for  being  a  brute  !  And  he  is 
not  a  brute  ;  he  is  a  man  driven  by  the  devil.  Oh,  my  God ! 
we  are  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made  !  'Tis  an  awful  event 
when  a  soul  is  born.  For  a  human  heart  is  so  made  that  it 
cannot  fill  itself,  and  it  will  either  be  filled  with  God  or  the 
enemy.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  itself.  It  must  be  filled  with 
the  seven  devils,  or  the  seven  spirits  of  the  Holy  God. 
These  are  lurid  places  in  the  Bible,  but  they  are  revealing 
places.  Every  wise  man  will  stand  in  the  light  of  them, 
and  bare  his  own  bosom,  and  let  the  light  stream  in. 

"If  Thou  canst  do  anything,  have  compassion  upon  us, 
and  help  us."  That  is  how  to  pray.  He  bound  himself 
with  his  child.  So  did  the  Syro-Phoenician  mother  when 
her  opportunity  came:  "Have  mercy  upon  us."  And  there 
was  only  herself  standing  there.  "  Have  mercy  upon  us; 
my  daughter  is  grievously  vexed  with  a  devil."  "Have 
compassion  on  us,  and  help  us,"  said  the  father.  Sabbath- 
school  teacher,  preacher,  in  this  sense,  make  common  cause 
with  the  sinner.  Take  that  wild  lad,  take  that  dangerously 
giddy  girl,  take  that  drunkard,  take  that  harlot,  on  your 
very  heart  in  before  the  throne  of  grace.  Say,  ''Have  mercy 
upon  lis.  My  brother,  my  daughter,  my  son  is  grievously 
vexed  with  a  devil."  The  cold  prayer  that  rises,  either 
from  a  pulpit  or  any  Christian  worker's  lips,  about  sin  and 


146  THE    BOY   WITH   THE    DUMB    AND    DEAF    SPIRIT. 

sinners  in  general,  never  reaches  Christ's  ear,  nor  touches 
His  heart.  But  it  is  this  that  tells  :  **  Lord,  that  man's 
trouble  is  my  trouble.  Lord,  that  man's  desolation  grieves 
my  heart  also.  Have  compassion  on  us,  and  help  us."  And 
that  will  come  round.  Aye,  it  will  come  round.  Christ's 
grace  will  so  spread  and  so  leaven,  that  His  disciples  hearts 
will  widen.  We  shall  not  always  need  to  be  told  the 
A,  B,  C  of  the  tale  of  the  good  Samaritan.  We  will 
by  -  and  -  bye  pick  it  up  and  work  it  out  instinc- 
tively. The  woes  of  the  East  End  shall  be  grievously 
felt  by  the  wealthy  in  the  West ;  and  the  woes  on  the 
Continent  shall  be  as  close  to  us  as  our  own  native-born 
English  troubles.  The  grievances  of  the  poor,  harried 
people  in  Darkest  Africa  shall  tell  on  our  hearts,  and  bring 
to  Christ's  ears  our  warm  prayers,  as  if  they  were  our  own 
sons,  and  daughters,  and  kinsfolk,  and  acquaintances.  The 
devil  is  going  to  overdo  it ;  and,  instead  of  tearing  us  apart, 
his  very  virulence,  through  the  grace  of  Christ,  is  going  to 
bind  us  together.  We  will  make  common  cause  by-and- 
bye.  God  grant  it  may  be  this  year  as  never  before.  We 
shall  see  that  a  common  devil  destroys  us ;  and  we  shall 
come  together  in  a  common,  unanimous  throb  of  prayer 
that  shall  rise  at  once  from  all  around  the  earth.  "  Have 
pity,  have  compassion  upon  us,  for  mankind  is  clinging  to 
our  skirts,  and  we  are  coming  with  ourselves  and  them 
before  Thy  mercy-seat.  And  thus  shall  the  whole  round 
world  everywhere  be  bound  with  gold  chains  about  the  feet 
of  God."  That  is  how  to  pray.  Something  like  that.  We 
ought  to  be  done  with  the  coldness,  and  the  distance,  and  the 
abstraction,  and  to  take  the  full  burden.  Try  it  to-day, 
dear  Sabbath- school  teacher.  Try  it  all  through  the  week, 
you  who  are  troubled  with  that  drunken  neighbour  —  try  it 


THE    BOY    WITH    THE    DUMB    AND    DEAF    SPIRIT.  147 

after  this  fashion  :  make  his  trouble  and  misery  your  own^ 
and  then  **  bring  him  unto  Me." 

"  Jesus  said  unto  him,  If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are 
possible  to  him  that  believeth.  And  straightway  the  father 
of  the  child  cried  out,  and  said  with  tears,  Lord,  I  believe  : 
help  Thou  mine  unbelief."  We  have  got  to  know  now  that 
always  our  Lord  is  seeking  to  open  up  the  avenue  of  faith  in 
our  hearts,  along  which  the  blessing  may  come.  But  here 
it  gets  an  emphasis  again.  **  If  Thou  canst,"  said  the  father. 
But  Jesus  restated  the  problem :  "  No,  no.  There  is  an 
'  if,'  but  the  '  if '  is  not  with  Me,  but  with  you." 

Even  in  this  awful  scene,  where  sin  assumes  its  most  malig- 
nant and  most  heart-breaking  form  this  lad  possessed  from 
a  child,  a  case  in  which  the  problem  is  hardest  for  a  good 
and  benevolent  God,  Jesus  is  unabashed,  undismayed,  un- 
disturbed. He  stands  at  the  very  centre  of  this  moral 
cyclone  calm  and  cool,  quiet  and  self-possessed,  and  in  a. 
moment  notices  the  wrong  way  in  which  the  case  is  stated 
when  the  cry  comes,  "  If  Thou  canst  do  anything."  He  is 
quick  as  lightning:  "But  if  thou  canst."  He  puts  back 
the  "  if  "  into  its  true  place.  He  shows  where  the  knot  is 
on  the  string.  It  is  with  us.  There  is  an  "  if,"  but,  thank 
God,  it  is  not  on  His  side.  All  things  are  possible  to  Him, 
and  He  says  faith  so  allies  us  with  Him  that  we  become 
part  of  Him — the  expansion  of  Divine  omnipotence  right 
into  the  region  where  the  devil's  power  is  reigning  in  the 
human  heart. 

Then  can  we  believe  ?  Am  I  speaking  to  any  poor  sinner 
now  ?  The  Lord  urges  you  to  believe,  my  friend.  Don't 
say  you  can't.  Sin  is  wrecking  you,  although  not  openly, 
before  the  eyes  of  the  world,  perhaps ;  but  you  are  con- 
scious that  sin  is  spoiling  you,  creeping  farther  and  farther 


148    THE  BOY  WITH  THE  DUMB  AND  DEAF  SPIBIT. 

into  you.  Can  you  believe  in  Christ  ?  House  yourself  to 
trust  Him.  "  Oh,"  say  so  many,  "  I  have  prayed.  I  have 
heard  the  Gospel.  I  have  done  this  thing,  and  that  thifig, 
and  the  other  thing,  and  I  am  no  better  yet."  My  friend, 
you  have  not  done  it.  Eouse  thyself ;  call  upon  thy  soul. 
Hearty  faith,  living  faith,  is  what  is  wanted — no  mere 
name  of  the  thing.  You  don't  beheve,  you  don't  grip,  you 
don't  hold,  you  don't  hang ;  for  Christ  has  the  power  to 
cure  you  and  me,  and  faith  is  the  medium  of  the  blessing, 
and  there  is  no  other. 

What  is  hindering  the  blessing  ?  for  Christ  has  come  in 
greater  power  than  this  ;  Christ  has  died,  yea,  rather  has 
risen  again.  He  is  even  now  at  the  right  hand  of  power. 
If  thou  canst  beheve,  O  church,  0  individual !  Why  is  there 
no  water  in  the  pipes  of  some  of  our  houses  just  now  ?  It 
is  not  because  London  has  not  a  water-supply.  It  is  not 
because  the  streets  are  not  threaded  all  through  their 
length  from  the  great  reservoirs  with  a  perfect  system  of 
piping.  It  is  not  that  the  system  of  piping  does  not  go 
right  into  every  house.  Then  why  do  I  turn  the  tap  in 
vain  in  my  house,  and  you  in  yours  ?  Because  there  is  a 
block  of  ice  in  the  pipe  ;  because,  as  we  are  all  saying,  *'  It 
is  frozen."  Why  is  the  blessing  not  leaping  and  laughing 
like  bubbling  water  through  London's  humanity  ?  It  is  not 
because  the  great  ocean  and  fountain  of  fulness  is  not  there. 
It  is  not  because  the  links  of  communication  between 
Divine  fulness  and  our  emptiness  are  not  formed.  Christ 
as  there,  and  His  Church  is  here,  and  all  the  channels,  and 
tubes,  and  pipes  of  prayer,  and  promise,  and  supplication  are 
there.  What  is  wrong  ?  There  is  ice  in  the  pipe,  that  is 
what  is  wrong.  The  frost  has  come  on  our  hearts,  that  is 
what  is  wrong.     We  do  not    pray — we  are  frozen — that 


THE   BOY   WITH    THE    DUMB    AND    DEAF    SPIRIT.  149 

is  what  is  wrong.  How  much  did  you  pray  last  week  ? 
How  much  did  we  plead,  and  ask  the  Lord  last  week 
to  relieve  at  particular  definite  spots  London's  dam- 
nation ? 

"This  kind  goeth  not  forth  but  by  prayer."  He  will 
bring  you  to  your  knees ;  but  it  is  hard  to  do  it.  The 
trouble  even  for  Almightiness  is  to  get  the  individual  and 
whole  Church  on  its  knees.  Believing  prayer;  that  is 
illustrated  and  called  for  by  what  He  said  to  the  father, 
and  afterwards  what  He  said  to  the  disciples.  I  believe 
we  are  entitled  to  put  away  the  word  "  fasting."  It  is  a 
gloss,  and  should  not  be  there.  Christ  says,  '*  There  is  no 
trick  about  it.  There  is  no  secret  about  it.  This  kind 
goeth  not  forth  but  by  prayer."  Some  things  you  can  heal 
with  human  sympathy.  Some  things  you  can  cure,  along 
lower  planes.  Kindly  counsel,  loving  hearts,  the  warm 
shake  of  the  hand,  the  gentle  kiss  by  a  woman  upon 
another  woman's  cheek,  may  win,  and  woo,  and  heal,  and 
cure  some  things.  Coals,  and  boots,  and  blankets,  and 
medicines  may  do  a  great  deal  in  their  own  way.  Total 
abstinence,  if  it  can  be  adopted,  may  build  up  certain 
weaknesses ;  but  the  last  result,  the  real  heart  of  the 
trouble,  to  get  out  the  devil  and  to  get  in  God  and  real 
health,  health  for  the  heart,  that  needs  laying  hold  nakedly 
of  the  arm  of  the  Lord,  asking  point-blank  for  what  you 
want,  and  seeing  that  you  get  it. 

"Straightway  the  father  cried  out  with  tears,  and  said. 
Lord,  I  believe  :  help  Thou  mine  unbelief."  Now,  dear 
Sabbath-school  teacher,  do  not  stand  between  your  children 
and  the  blessing.  Preacher,  do  not  stand  between  the  Lord 
and  your  congregation,  Christian  worker,  do  not  be  a 
frozen  pipe  with  a  block  of  ice  in  the  heart  of  it.     But  be 


150    THE  BOY  WITH  THE  DUMB  AND  DEAF  SPIRIT. 

open.  Live  in  communion  with  God.  "  In  everything  by 
prayer  and  supphcation  with  thanksgiving  let  your  requests 
be  made  known  to  Him  ;  "  and  then,  when  you  pull  the 
cord  of  prayer,  the  streams  of  blessing  will  descend  on  you 
and  yours. 

"Lord,  I  believe:  help  Thou  mine  unbelief.  When 
Jesus  saw  that  the  people  came  running  together.  He  rebuked 
the  foul  spirit,  saying  unto  him,  Thou  dumb  and  deaf  spirit, 
I  charge  thee,  come  out  of  him,  and  enter  no  more  into  him. 
And  the  spirit  cried,  and  rent  him  sore,  and  came  out  of 
him  :  and  he  was  as  one  dead  ;  insomuch  that  many  said, 
He  is  dead.  But  Jesus  took  him  by  the  hand,  and  lifted 
him  up ;  and  he  arose."  He  always  does  that.  You  and  I 
never  knew  a  day  of  happiness  until  Jesus  took  us  by  the 
hand.  True,  it  was  not  done  by  an  Incarnate  Saviour,  as 
here.  It  was  not  just  literally  done  like  this;  but  the 
eternal  day  will  show  that  every  soul  in  Eegent  Square 
that  was  ever  redeemed  from  the  power  of  the  devil  and  the 
ruin  of  an  unclean  heart  was  taken  in  hand,  by  the  hand 
that  gripped  the  lunatic  lad.  "  Took  him  by  the  hand." 
Blessed  Saviour,  we  love  Thee.  That  is  the  gospel  in  the 
Gospel :  not  only  the  word,  but  the  grip — the  personal  grasp 
of  a  personal  Eedeemer.  Again,  I  say,  we  never  knew  the 
tingling  pulse  of  real  health  till  Jesus  gripped  our  soul  by 
His  hand  of  grace  in  the  Gospel. 

May  we  all  have  it  to-day,  the  hand  of  Christ  upon  us, 
the  power  of  Christ  working  in  us,  through  faith  and 
prayer.  For  we  want  believing,  and  better  believing. 
"  Lord,  I  believe  !  I  believe  !  "  "  And  when  He  was  come 
into  the  house  " — I  have  anticipated  that — "  His  disciples 
asked  Him  privately,  Why  could  not  we  have  cast  him 
out?     And   He   said.  This   kind   goeth  not   forth  but  by 


THE   BOY    WITH    THE    DUMB    AND    DEAF    SPIRIT.  151 

prayer."  To  do  Gospel  work,  real  work,  to  cast  out  sin  and 
impart  the  saving  grace  of  God,  will  never  do  for  men  such 
as  the  disciples  then  were.  A  little  while  before  they  were 
showing  that  they  did  not  really  know  their  Lord ;  and 
in  a  little  after  they  were  disputing  "  who  should  be 
greatest." 

"  Will  ever  these  men  cast  out  devils  ?  "  And  it  was  a 
stinging  word  that  He  said.  He  virtually  said,  "  Until  you 
give  up  your  petty  ambitions,  and  your  taking  of  Me  in 
hand,  and  contradicting  Me,  and  being  wiser  than  Me,  you 
will  never  tell  upon  the  work  of  the  devil — never."  Teacher, 
father  and  mother,  preacher,  as  long  as  you  are  one  foot  in 
the  world  and  one  foot  in  the  Church,  never  expect  to  see 
drunkards  saved,  and  really  bad  people  made  holy.  It  can- 
not be  done  at  the  price — never.  Be  prayerful ;  live  your 
work  ;  live  your  Gospel ;  grip  the  hand  of  Christ,  and  never 
let  Him  go  ;  be  in  fellowship  with  Him.  And  then  at  kirk 
or  market  you  will  save  souls. '  Then,  wherever  you  go, 
Sabbath-day  or  week-day,  streams  of  blessing  will  attend 
you.  **  Out  of  you  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water." 
Ye  shall  do  Christ's  works,  "  and  greater  works  than 
these."  Because  He  was  hurrying  back  to  the  Father, 
back  to  that  place  of  central  power,  that  from  that  place, 
having  died  for  our  sins,  and  risen  again.  He  might  send 
down  upon  a  poor,  perishing,  howling,  demented  world, 
through  a  million  pipes  and  channels,  copious  floods  of  His 
pardoning  grace  and  healing  power,  through  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Oh  for  a  praying  people !  Oh  for  a  praying 
minister  !  Oh  for  praying  Sabbath-school  teachers  !  Oh 
for  praying  fathers  and  mothers !  Then  everywhere 
throughout  the  city,  death,  and  darkness,  and  old  night, 
would  roll  away.     Christ  the  Lord  in  His  saving  grace 


152  THE    BOY    WITH    THE    DUMB    AND    DEAF    SPIRIT. 

would  be  seen,  and  felt,  and  enjoyed  in  our  Sunday  schools, 
in  our  own  families,  among  those  who  are  near  and  dear  to 
us,  but  who  just  now  by  reason  of  sin  are  being  killed  all 
the  day  long,  and  counted  as  sheep  for  the  slaughter. 
May  God  bless  His  Word.     Amen. 


Hknderson  &  Spaluinc;,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylcboae  Lane,  London,  W. 


Regent  gqwar^  f  tilpit. 


A  "TEEEIBLE  INFANT." 


Preached  in  Regent   Square  Presbyterian  Church. 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  McNeill. 


Text— John  ix.  18-23. 

This  chapter  is  all  about  the  blind  man  whom  Christ 
healed.  It  was  a  notable  miracle,  and  the  Pharisees  could 
not  get  over  it,  although  they  tried.  I  shall  deal  mainly 
with  the  ideas  suggested  by  the  21st  verse  :  "  By  what 
means  he  now  seeth,  we  know  not ;  or  who  hath  opened  his 
eyes,  we  know  not :  he  is  of  age  ;  ask  him  :  he  shall  speak 
for  himself." 

There  is  a  sense  in  which,  of  course,  that  was  badly 
spoken.  It  was  born  of  the  cowardice  of  the  parents. 
They  found  themselves  all  at  once  in  a  state  calling  for 
thankfulness,  for  their  son  who  had  been  born  blind  was 
now  made  to  see.  But  there  is  no  rose  without  a  thorn,  and 
that  rose  brought  this  thorn,  and  a  pretty  jaggy  one  it  was. 
The  rehgious  and  civil  leaders  of  the  times  had  already 
made  a  decree  that  if  any  man  called  Christ  the  Messiah — 
if  any  man  gave  Him  that  great,  Divine,  shining  name— 

Vol.  III.— No.  11. 


154  A    "TERRIBLE    INFANT." 

that  person  should  be  excommunicated ;  for  "  put  out  of  the 
synagogue  "  means  excommunicated.  And  that  was  a  sen- 
tence of  no  small  terror  to  a  Jew  ;  and  rightly  so,  for  it  was 
a  severe  sentence  indeed  when  it  was  carried  to  its 
extremity.  The  man  was  not  only  cast  out  of  the  synagogue, 
but  he  was  cast  out  of  the  society  of  his  fellows.  He  was 
"  boycotted,"  which  is  about  the  best  English  word  to  sum 
up  the  matter  briefly.  So  the  man's  parents  were  afraid, 
and  finding  that  they  were  in  a  difficulty,  said,  "  Yes,  he  is 
our  son,  and  he  was  born  blind.  There  is  no  doubt  about 
that " ;  but  they  saved  themselves  by  falling  back  upon 
agnosticism  for  the  rest.  "  How  he  was  made  to  see,  and 
who  did  it,  we  do  not  know :  he  is  of  age ;  ask  him  :  he 
shall  speak  for  himself."  In  the  overruling  providence  of 
God  this  timidity  on  the  part  of  the  parents  worked  for  good 
to  the  man,  and  worked  for  good  for  Jesus  Christ.  It  led 
the  man  to  confess  Christ,  and,  confessing  Christ,  it  led 
him,  as  it  always  does,  to  a  firmer  faith,  to  a  more  rooted 
character,  and  to  a  fuller,  clearer  knowledge  of  this  Christ 
who  at  once  had  brought  him  into  so  much  blessedness  and 
into  so  much  danger. 

I  want,  then,  to  take  these  words  of  the  parents  and  put 
them  to  the  best  use.  I  want  to  call  for  certain  people. 
"  He  is  of  age;  ask  him :  he  shall  speak  for  himself."  Are 
there  not  those  among  us  here  who  need  to  be  called  out, 
who  need  to  be  singled  out  ?  It  is  time,  my  dear  friends ; 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  discussion  about  Christ,  and  a  great 
deal  of  discussion  about  religion — a  vast  amount  of  talking 
pro  and  con ;  and  you  could  give  a  most  valuable  contribu- 


A    "  TERKIBLE    INFANT."  155 

tion  to  the  debate  that  is  going  on.  If  there  is  any  heart 
in  it — if  it  moves  along  lines  that  lead  to  any  profitable 
result — thou  art  the  man  to  help  the  discussion.  More  than 
ministers,  more  than  church-going  people,  considered  simply 
as  such,  more  than  anything,  we  need  this  fellow.  "  The 
man  who  kens  his  ain  ken,"  as  they  say  across  the  Tweed, 
who  has  got  his  own  personal  item  of  knowledge.  That 
knowledge  is  not  as  big  as  it  might  be  ;  it  is  not  as  full,  and 
bright,  and  clear  as  it  ought  to  be.  He  is  not  yet  just 
an  out-and-out  disciple,  much  less  is  he  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel ;  but  there  has  been  a  light  kindled.  Granted  it  is 
only  a  spark ;  but  if  we  could  get  all  the  people  with  sparks 
to  come  and  stand  in  the  wind  that  is  blowing,  it  would  be 
found  that,  snell  and  all  as  the  wind  is,  it  never  yet  blew 
out  a  Divine  spark ;  it  always  fans  it  into  a  flame.  It  was 
said  long  ago  about  Patrick  Hamilton,  when  he  was  burnt 
at  Edinburgh  for  confessing  Christ,  that,  instead  of  quench- 
ing the  young  Eeformation,  his  burning  had  only  helped  it : 
the  enemies  were  compelled  to  say  that  "  the  reek  of  Patrick 
Hamilton  had  infected  as  many  as  it  blew  upon."  The  smoke 
of  his  burning  had  furthered  the  Gospel  more  than  his 
living,  perhaps,  would  ever  have  done. 

Now,  my  friends,  you  are  of  age.  It  is  time  that 
some  of  you  were  standing  away  from  mother's  apron- 
strings,  and  from  father's,  and  from  mine,  so  to  speak, 
standing  out  from  all  shelters  and  all  disguises.  Let  the 
battle  thicken  round  you,  you  will  not  be  destroyed.  You 
will  never  know  how  worthy  Christ  is  to  fight  for  until  you 
try.     It  is  time  that  your  feet  were  put  below  you,  and  that 


155  A    "TEREIBLE   INFANT." 

you  showed  some  use  of  your  own  tongue.  I  cannot  fight 
all  the  battle  of  the  Christian  evidences;  and  the  best 
Christian  evidence  vrould  be  you  if  you  would  come  out  and 
shine  for  God.  It  will  be  better  worth  than  all  my  sermon 
and  whole  tomes  of  controversial  literature  upon  either 
side,  if  you  will  stand  out  and  out,  and  say,  "  One  thing  I 
know :  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see  ";  and  if  you  will 
face  the  difficulty,  and  take  your  own  share  to  which  God 
and  man  are  calling  you  in  this  tremendous  campaign 
betwixt  light  and  darkness,  reality  and  formality,  Christ 
and  the  god  of  this  world.  That  man  found  himself  in  it 
all,  and  tremendously  so,  and  he  might  have  backed  out  of 
it ;  but  if  he  had  he  would  have  done  a  great  ruin  to  himself 
and  to  many  more  besides. 

Our  subject,  then,  as  you  see,  is  confessing  Christ.  "  He 
is  of  age ;  ask  him :  let  him  speak  for  himself."  I 
harp  on  that  string  again.  You  are  of  age.  It  is  not  as  if 
you  were  a  mere  infant.  My  friend,  you  have  come  to  years 
of  understanding.  You  have  settled,  very  likely,  by  this 
time  your  business  career.  You  have  settled  your  mind 
upon  a  great  many  subjects.  You  have  taken  your  place  as 
a  citizen,  or  you  are  upon  the  point,  and  the  time  is  ripe, 
and  nobody  would  hinder  you  from  doing  it.  Christ  claims 
that.  Christ  works  upon  that.  It  is  time  that  you  were 
showing  yourself,  and  it  is  time  because,  as  I  have  hinted 
already,  you  have  something  to  tell.  I  am  speaking  to 
those  who,  in  their  heart  of  hearts,  know  that  Christ  has 
revealed  Himself  to  them.  Whereas  you  were  blind,  now 
you  see.     You  have  a  trembling  throb  within  your  heart  of 


A   "TEBBIBLE    INFANT."  157 

a  personal  dealing  between  you  and  Christ  that  never  was 
there  before.  But  it  is  there  now  ;  you  are  therefore  in 
blessedness,  but  you  are  also  in  danger ;  in  blessed- 
ness if  you  will  come  out,  in  danger  if  you  will  be 
timid,  and  hide  it,  and  keep  it  to  yourself,  and  hush  it  up, 
and  say,  **  There  is  a  lion  in  the  street.  I  had  better  hold 
my  tongue.  The  part  of  prudence  is  to  keep  my  new-born, 
new-found  joy  to  myself.  If  I  confess  Christ  openly,  I  shall 
only  draw  attention  to  myself,  and  I  am  young  and  blushing. 
Therefore  I  will  keep  quiet."  That  will  not  do.  "He  shall 
speak  for  himself." 

We  make  our  appeal  to  those  who  by  our  preaching 
already  have  been  brought  somewhat  from  darkness,  stone- 
blindness,  **  high-gravel  blindness,"  as  Shakespeare  says. 
You  have  been  brought  from  that  to  glimmerings  of  light 
of  a  personal,  intimate,  special,  peculiar  kind.  Christ  as  a 
Saviour  has  had  His  hands  on  you.  He  has  been  working 
about  you ;  and,  better  than  I  can  explain  it,  or  you  either, 
between  Him  and  you  something  has  happened  that  was 
not  the  case  before.  Now,  come  out.  I  ask  for  you.  I 
call  for  all  who  are  of  age  to  come  forward.  It  is  a  critical 
hour.  You  are  greatly  needed  right  upon  the  spot  in  this 
very  crisis  of  the  debate.  Come  up,  man.  For  God's  sake, 
come  forward  !  You  are  needed  ;  you  are  greatly  needed. 
It  will  be  as  when  Blucher  came  on  the  field  of  Waterloo. 
Wellington  is  standing  there,  and  again,  and  again,  and 
again  he  sees  the  emptying  saddles  and  the  thinning 
squares;  but,  at  last,  here  is  Blucher  coming  up,  and 
WelHngton   gives    the   command,    and   the   thin   red   line 


158  A    "  TEERIBLE    INFANT." 

swept  on  to  meet  the  foe.  There  is  the  crisis.  The 
Church  is  beset  with  enemies  on  every  hand,  fiercely 
disputing  this  one  thing,  "  Have  we  got  God's  last  and 
best?  Has  the  Christ  come?  "  And  there  is  no  proof  like 
your  proof — the  living  man  standing  out  four-square  to 
every  wind  that  blows,  and  saying,  '*  Here  is  my  stone 
upon  the  cairn,  my  contribution.  I  say,  Yes,  yes ;  Christ 
has  come,  and  I  know  it,  and  I  will  stand  for  Him,  impugn 
whoso  list.  Father  and  mother,  wife  and  son  may  fight 
shy,  and  my  foes  may  be  those  of  my  own  house ;  but  it  is 
a  fire  in  my  bones,  I  dare  not  keep  silent." 

*'  I  dare  not  keep  silent."  Oh,  how  pitiful  the  conduct 
of  many !  You  have  gotten  this  thing  that  makes  life  worth 
living.  How  would  you  like — I  speak  to  mothers  here — 
how  would  you  like  it  if  that  babe  of  yours  grew  up  to  be  a 
lad,  and  grew  up  to  be  a  young  man,  and  grew  up  to  be  of 
age,  and  yet  never  spoke?  Some  have  that  experience. 
The  time  comes  when  mother  put  him  down  out  of  her 
arms,  and  he  gets  his  feet.  He  can  stand ;  he  can  toddle  ; 
he  can  walk  ;  and  then  walk  more  firmly  ;  and  she  dehghts 
in  him.  But,  lo,  this  sadness  comes  across  her  heart,  that 
there  is  no  articulate  speech  coming.  Some  of  you  are  that 
way.  You  have  been  toddling  to  and  from  the  house  of 
God  now  a  good  time,  some  of  you.  You  have  become  able  to 
go  on  foot.  You  have  light  enough  to  come  here  and  go 
back  again.  Nobody  needs  to  lead  you  to  the  house  of  God 
now  as  used  to  be.  Come,  friend,  do  you  know  Him?  Are 
you  born  again  ?  Are  you  converted  ?  Do  you  think  you 
know  Jesus  Christ  ?    Then,  "  Let  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord 


A    "TERRIBLE    INFANT."  159 

say  SO,  whom  He  hath  redeemed  out  of  the  hand_^  the 
enemy." 

Then,  as  you  make  confession,  my  friend,  see  how  it 
works  itself  out.  This  man,  being  appealed  to,  answered 
the  appeal.  When  his  name  was  called  out  he  answered, 
"Here  I  am."  He  did  not  run  away.  He  stood  to  his 
ground.  He  stood  to  his  guns.  Now,  do  not  run  away. 
Stand  fast.  Stand  firm.  Eun  up  the  colours  to  the  mast- 
head. Burn  your  boats,  and  break  down  your  bridges. 
No  retreat.  I  know  you  mean  well.  Perhaps  I  am  not 
speaking  altogether  to  young  believers,  but  I  am  speaking 
to  many  who  have  been  in  this  twilight  condition  for  a  good 
long  while ;  and  you  will  be  in  it  longer  still,  and  you  will 
never  know  whether  it  is  dark  or  light,  whether  it  is  morn- 
ing or  evening,  whether  you  are  lost  or  won,  and  you  will 
never  get  out  of  these  doldrums  until  you  do  what  this  man 
did.  We  must  confess  Christ.  I  say  that  I  know  that  some 
of  you  mean  well,  but  a  false  discretion  overtakes  you.  You 
are  not  unlike  that  soldier  who  was  always  discovered,  in 
the  shock  of  battle,  betaking  himself,  without  orders,  to  safe 
places.  The  captain  at  last  collared  him,  and  spoke  to 
him,  and  accused  him  of  having  a  cowardly  heart.  "  Oh," 
said  the  soldier,  **  my  heart  is  all  right.  My  heart  is  as 
brave  as  can  be  ;  but  whenever  a  danger  comes,  I  have  a 
cowardly  pair  of  legs  that  run  off  with  the  brave  heart." 
Many  of  us  are  like  that.  Your  thoughts  are  right ;  your 
convictions  are  right.  Away  from  the  moment  when  con- 
fession is  needed,  you  are  all  right ;  but  in  the  shock  of 
battle  you  fail.      Remember  the  danger.      "  He   that   is 


160  A    "  TEBEIBLE    INFANT." 

ashamed  of  Me  and  of  My  words  in  an  evil  and  adulterous 
generation,  of  him  will  I  be  ashamed  before  My  Father 
and  before  His  angels."  Let  us  come  out  for  Christ  the 
moment  we  have  anything  to  come  out  for,  no  matter  how 
dim  ;  though  not  knowing  as  much  as  we  hope  to  know, 
let  us,  nevertheless,  come  out  for  Him.  Take  your  place 
and  part  in  this  tremendous  controversy. 

Range  yourself  on  the  right  side  ;  and  this  is  what  will 
happen :  There  will  happen  in  your  case  that  which 
happened  in  the  case  of  the  blind  man.  See  how  this  man 
grew  and  deepened  in  what  I  may  call  insight.  You  cannot 
read  his  story  without  seeing  that  this  thing  that  Christ 
had  done  for  him  was  far  more  than  simply  unsealing  the 
scales  of  physical  blindness.  It  shot  all  through  him.  It 
was  moral  and  spiritual,  as  well  as  physical ;  and  in  a  very, 
very  short  time,  you  will  find  that  this  man  who,  an  hour 
before,  was  nothing  to  anybody — a  blind  beggar  with  his 
hand  held  out  for  whatever  would  be  put  into  it — was 
wiser  than  his  teachers.  You  find  him  rubbing  his  newly- 
opened  eyes,  and  saying  to  himself,  "  Now,  why  should  there 
be  this  bitterness  about  that  Man,  whoever  He  is,  who  did  this 
to  me  ?  Why  should  I  be  badgered,  and  hurried,  and  worried 
like  this?  There  is  a  want  of  fairness  somewhere."  There 
was  an  insight  into  men,  you  see.  Now,  you  will  never  get 
that  insight  into  the  real  state  of  the  case  as  regards  the 
living  Redeemer  in  London  to-day,  till  you  take  this  man's 
strong  stand.  Then  you  will  grow,  and  knowledge  and 
insight  will  be  one  of  the  very  first  growths.  You  will  not 
be  led  any  longer  by  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry.     You  will  feel 


A    **  TERRIBLE    INFANT."  161 

the  dint  and  pressure  of  things  for  yourself — how  they  strike 
you,  and  what  is  their  direction  and  momentum  ;  and  the 
whole  meaning  of  them  will  strike  you  as  never  otherwise. 
It  is  not  book-learniog  that  we  want,  half  so  much  as  the 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Ghost  given  to  babes  and  sucklings 
when  they  begin  to  babble  out  Christ's  praises.  Out  of  the 
mouth  of  a  suckling  like  this  the  Holy  Ghost  confounded 
the  enemies  of  the  Christ  of  God,  who  made  their  opposition 
without  sense  or  mense,  without  head,  or  heart,  or  clever- 
ness, or  anything  but  the  spite  of  hell.  We  might  so 
reason.  To  the  same  pitiful  dilemma  we  might  reduce 
nineteen-twentieths  of  the  opposition  to  the  living  Christ 
to-day,  if  we  would  adopt  these  lines.  The  Holy  Ghost 
would  lead  us  as  He  led  this  babe.  This  man  became,  in 
ten  minutes,  worth  twenty  professors  of  apologetics,  as  a  de- 
fender of  the  faith — "  fidei  defensor."  I  do  not  scorn  apolo- 
getics. Not  at  all.  I  do  not  undervalue  them.  Not 
at  all.  I  believe  in  them  ;  but  this  is  the  living  apologetic. 
This  is  the  man  in  the  street ;  not  the  man  in  the  closet  or 
study,  but  the  man  at  the  corner.  And  it  is  the  man  out 
there  that  we  are  needing,  because  the  big  battle  is  in 
public  life. 

Then  there  is  another  thing  which  you  get  besides  this 
insight,  this  unction  from  the  Holy  One,  by  which  the 
blind  man  gauged  the  situation.  You  listen  to  people,  and 
you  say,  "Ah!  I  know  better  than  that.  Your  tongue  says 
that,  but  there  is  something  deeper  than  that  behind  your 
tongue.  That  is  not  the  whole  explanation  of  what  you  are 
saying."     He  said  to  himself,  "Why  should  these  Pharisees 


162  A    "  TERRIBLE    INFANT." 

and  Scribes  be  coming  quizzing  me,  and  cross-examining 
me,  and  hauling  me  up  in  this  way?  What  is  at  the 
bottom  of  it?  I  guess  that  there  is  something  up.  I 
suppose  that  these  Scribes  and  Pharisees  somehow  or 
other  are  getting  rubbed  the  wrong  way  by  this  some- 
body who  did  the  wonderful  thing  for  me ;  but  I  will  say 
my  own  say.  I  will  say  what  I  know,  and  think,  and  feel. 
I  will  stick  to  my  text,  and  see  what  comes  of  it."  Oh, 
that  we  might  get  this  insight ! 

But  there  is  another  thing  you  will  get,  and  which  I 
have  anticipated  already.  You  will  get  courage.  This  is 
what  the  Scripture  calls  holy  boldness,  and  I  wish  to  God 
that  we  could  get  it.  I  wish  that  this  congregation  might 
be  baptized  with  it.  We  should  then  be  a  very  Cromwell's 
Ironside  all  through  next  week.  When  you  get  this 
holy  boldness,  it  will  enable  you  to  see  the  frown  and  to 
take  your  life  and  reputation  in  your  hand.  You  will  see 
that  what  Christ  said  is  true,  and  that  the  path  to  heaven 
is  not  a  primrose  path  of  daUiance.  The  path  to  heaven  is 
a  pathway  of  obstacle  and  conflict.  "  Blessed  are  ye  when 
men  shall  persecute  you,  and  separate  you  from  their  com- 
pany, and  revile  you,  and  say  all  manner  of  evil  against 
you  falsely  for  the  Son  of  Man's  sake.  Eejoice  and  be 
exceeding  glad,  for  great  is  your  reward  in  heaven."  Do 
you  not  see  how  that  benediction  settles  on  this  courageous 
baby's  head?  In  one  sense,  "of  age";  in  another,  but 
newly  born  ;  but  what  a  "  terrible  infant  "  he  was  !  Heaven 
bends  over  the  head  of  the  confessor  of  the  Christ  of  God. 
The  Arabs  have  a  saying  that  heaven  lies  close  in  above 


A   "TERRIBLE    INFANT."  163 

Damascus ;  and  the  Jews  have  a  saying  that  heaven  hes 
close  in  above  Jerusalem ;  and  in  Scotland,  of  course,  they 
think  "  there's  glory  all  around."  But  I  will  tell  you  where 
it  is  nearest.  Heaven  is  very  close  when  you,  my  lad,  down 
in  the  office  to-morrow,  in  the  midst  of  the  ribaldry  and  the 
scoffing,  the  sophisms  and  the  false  argumentation  which 
"makes  the  worse  appear  the  better  reason,"  set  forward 
your  best  foot  in  the  midst  of  it  all,  and  testify  for  Christ. 
You  might  almost  hear  the  angels  then.  If  ever  heaven  is 
near  the  earth,  it  is  when  a  son  of  Adam  stands  up  for 
Jesus  who  died  and  rose  again.  And  courage 
will  grow  by  what  it  feeds  on.  You  have  no  idea 
how  strong  you  will  be  for  Christ.  You  have  no  idea  what 
powers  of  argumentation  will  develop  in  you.  How  this 
man  argued,  and  how,  by  trying  his  sword,  he  grew  skilful 
and  fleshed  his  maiden  weapon  in  the  blood  of  these  adver- 
saries. "  Why,"  he  said,  "here  is  a  marvellous  thing,  that  you 
know  not  from  whence  He  is  ;  and  yet  He  opened  my  eyes. 
Now,  we  know  that  God  heareth  not  sinners.  You  remem- 
ber David's  words,  *  If  I  regard  iniquity  in  my  heart,  the 
Lord  will  not  hear  me.'  God  will  not  hear  a  sinner;  but 
if  any  man  be  a  worshipper  of  God  and  doeth  His  law, 
him  He  heareth.  Since  the  world  began  it  was  not  heard 
that  any  man  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind.  If  this  Man 
were  not  of  God  He  could  do  nothing."  See  how  it  grows. 
You  see  what  courage  means.  Courage  is  not  theramstam, 
buU-in-a-china-shop  kind  of  thing  that  many  people  believe 
it  to  be.  Lots  of  folk  think  that  spiritual  courage  is  not 
an  illuminated  thing,  and  there  are  plenty  of  people  who 


164  A    "TEEEIBLE    INFANT." 

over-praise  discretion  because  of  its  wisdom.  I  can  imagine 
how,  when  this  man  stood  firm,  his  breath  would  become 
short,  as  he  realized  that  he  was  actually  "  cheeking  up  " 
to  the  Sanhedrim  ;  and  the  thought  would  come  upon  him, 
"  What  an  awful  fool  I  am  making  of  myself  in  daring  to 
talk  like  this  about  the  controversy  of  the  hour ! "  But  yet, 
see  his  deepening  conviction.  He  had  got  the  whip  by  the 
handle.  He  had  got  the  right  end  of  the  stick.  He  had 
got  the  running  end  of  the  thread,  and,  as  he  pulled,  it 
came  splendidly  away.  Every  young  convert  finds  that. 
Every  confessor  of  Christ  finds  it.  **  Take  no  thought  what 
ye  shall  say.  In  that  same  hour  the  Holy  Ghost  shall 
teach  you."  The  Spirit  of  your  Father  will  supply  the 
argument.  You  are  on  hallowed  ground.  You  are  sur- 
rounded by  the  great  cloud  of  witnesses  ;  departed  spirits 
of  the  mighty  dead  are  near  you.  Remember  how  our 
poet  uses  this  very  sentiment  to  evoke  patriotic  courage  in 
the  sailor  lad — 

"  Wliere  Blake  and  the  mighty  Nelson  fell, 
Your  manly  hearts  shall  glow 
As  ye  sweep  through  the  deep, 

While  the  stormy  tempests  blow." 

The  courageous  stand  which  that  man  made  was  like 
the  stand  which  the  lighthouse  makes.  The  light- 
house makes  a  firm  stand  in  the  midst  of  the  breakers 
and  billows,  and  all  the  riot  and  rout  of  the  tem- 
pest. There  stands  the  lighthouse,  rooted  in  the  living 
rock,  tier  after  tier  of  solid  masonry  clamped  together 
by  clamps  of  steel.  But  there  is  more  than  that.  If  the 
lighthouse  only  stood  as  a  great  pile  of  massive  stone,  what 
avail  would  it  be?  There  is  the  light.  There  is  light 
as  well  as  strength.     There  is  that  shining  lantern  at  the 


A    "TERRIBLE    INFANT."  165 

top,  as  well  as  the  pillared  strength  that  holds  it  up.  So 
with  the  young  confessor  of  the  Christ.  You  have  not  only 
strength,  but  you  have  beauty,  the  clear  outshining  of  the 
light  of  an  undimmed,  unquenched,  and  unquenchable 
testimony. 

And,  last  of  all,  what  he  came  to  was  this— fuller  knowledge 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  is  the  blessing  of  every  blessing 
— to  know  Him  best,  to  get  more  closely  to  Him,  to  enjoy 
sweet  fellowship  with  Him.  My  Jesus — mine — forme.  That 
is  what  you  get  if  you  begin  at  once  to  follow  the  light  you  have, 
and  act  on  what  you  know.  Now,  at  first  this  man  was  not 
clear.  When  the  actual  Son  of  God  came  to  him,  after 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  had  cast  him  out.  He  put  the 
pointed  question  to  him,  "  Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son 
of  God?"  The  Greek  brings  out  the  emphasis  on  that 
pronoun,  '*  thou,"  as  the  English  cannot.  **  Dost  tJiou 
believe  on  the  Son  of  God?"  And  the  man  answered, 
"  Who  is  He,  Lord,  that  I  might  believe  ?  And  Jesus 
said,  Thou  hast  both  seen  Him,  and  it  is  He  that  talketh 
with  thee."  And  he  said,  "Lord,  I  believe";  and  he 
worshipped  Him.  "  The  path  of  the  just  is  as  a  shining 
light  which  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day." 
Have  you  found  it  to  be  like  that  ?  Has  your  Christian 
experience  been  like  that  ?  God  be  praised,  there  are  some 
of  us  with  whom  it  has  been  so,  in  His  great  love  and 
mercy.  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  speak  of  myself  as  one. 
Before  I  knew  very  well,  so  to  speak,  what  had  happened 
to  me,  I  just  knew  that  something  had  happened.  I  just 
knew  that  a  light  had  come,  and  had  gleamed  and  broken  in, 
that  never  was  there  before.  I  have  told  you  before  that  I 
had  to  stand  up  in  my  village  where  I  was  brought  up. 
Christ  got  no  rougher  treatment  anywhere  than  in  Nazareth, 


166  A   "TEEEIBLE   INFANT." 

where  He  had  been  brought  up,  and  a  young  disciple 
finds  no  harder,  stiffer  task  than  to  confess  Christ  in  his 
Nazareth,  his  own  town,  his  own  set.  Without  getting 
much  time  to  think  about  it,  I  had  committed  myself  to 
appear  at  a  certain  meeting,  and,  instead  of  allowing  the 
minister  to  preach  as  usual,  the  minister's  two  sons  and  my- 
self said,  "We  will  take  the  meeting,  and  we  will  speak." 
It  is  said  that  the  best  of  all  ways  to  teach  your  boy  to 
swim  is,  if  you  can  swim  yourself,  to  go  with  him  to  the 
sea,  and  pitch  him  in.  And  the  best  of  all  ways  to  make 
yourself  stand  up  for  Jesus  is  to  fling  yourself  in.  Be  reck- 
less. Do  not  let  "I  dare  not "  wait  upon  "  I  would  like  "  ; 
but  be  reckless ;  go  in ;  put  brass  into  your  face.  Stand 
forth. 

So  with  this  man.  So  with  all  of  us.  We  never  should 
have  come  to  anything  if  at  that  critical  moment  we  had 
not  been  pushed  out,  and  had  not  felt  that  destiny  was  upon 
us.  We  dare  not  turn  down  the  light.  We  dare  not. 
Take  care  about  turning  down  the  light.  The  devil  may 
shut  it  off  at  the  meter.  Take  care  !  Keep  it  going.  Keep 
it  bright.  Keep  it  burning.  You  will  then  get  clearer 
light.  You  will  grow  in  knowledge,  until  at  last  you  will 
get  to  be  sure.  And  I  praise  God  that  some  of  us 
are  sure.  I  do  not  see  very  well  how  we  could  now 
doubt  Jesus  Christ.  We  have  got  so  far  into  the  King's 
country  that  we  do  not  know  the  road  back  to  the  borders 
again.  Begin  ever  so  lowly,  begin  ever  so  obscurely,  but 
testify  for  Christ,  and  you  will  be  at  the  heart,  at  the 
centre,  in  palpitating  contact  with  the  great  Commander-in- 
Chief,  the  head,  the  heart,  the  soul  of  all  religion.  You 
will  be  right  in  the  centre  in  such  light  and  so  committed 
that   the   idea  of  your  beginning  to   doubt,  and   of  your 


A    "TERRIBLE    INFANT.  167 

becoming  an  agnostic,  is  out  of  the  question.  A  man  comes 
and  says  to  me,  "  Mr.  McNeill,  it  is  a  very  serious  time. 
So-and-so  has  written  a  book  denying  the  miraculous." 
"  Oh !  "  "  And  another  man  has  written  a  book  casting 
doubt  upon  the  authenticity  of  the  four  Gospels."  "Oh, 
indeed!"  Somehow  the  thing  does  not  bite.  It  goes 
"  like  water  off  a  duck's  back."  These  books  are  too  late, 
somehow  or  another.  These  men  started  too  late  for  you. 
You  cannot  take  an  interest  in  them.  The  man  might  as 
well  begin  and  say,  "  Mr.  McNeill,  there  is  a  man  who  tells 
me  that  there  is  some  doubt  about  whether  you  have  been  born. ' ' 
Well,  I  might  meet  that  man's  argument — and  you  would 
hardly  find  fault  with  me  if  I  so  met  it  —  with  a  kind  but 
broad  grin  on  my  face.  It  is  too  late.  We  have  bowed  at 
the  feet  of  the  Son  of  God.  We  have  discovered  the  Secret 
of  the  universe.  We  have  reached  the  throne  of  the 
Highest.  We  have  got  something  of  the  blaze  of  light  that 
shines  from  the  very  throne  of  God;  and  we  can  never, 
never  go  back  to  doubt,  and  unbelief,  and  darkness  again. 
It  is  warp  and  woof  with  us.  It  is  in  blood,  and  bone,  and 
brain,  and  nerve,  and  sinew.  It  is  the  bottom  of  all  our 
thinking.  If  you  find  us  casting  doubts  on  Christ,  shut  us 
up  in  a  madhouse,  for  we  have  gone  out  of  our  minds. 
Poor  creatures,  we  are  demented  and  deranged — it  is 
disease  that  has  overtaken  us — if  ever  you  find  us  going 
back  upon  this. 

Now,  my  friend,  I  put  that  question  to  you  before  I  let 
you  go  :  "Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God?"  I  am 
not  asking  about  your  doubts  and  difficulties,  I  push  past  all 
that,  and  it  is  time  I  did.  Dost  thou  beheve  ?  You  are 
of  age,  and  it  is  time  that  you  should  answer  that  question 
This  man  said,  "  Who  is  He,  Lord,  that  I  might  believe  ? 


168  A    "TEEEIBLE    INFANT." 

And  Jesus  said,  You  have  both  seen  Hhxi,  and  He  is  talking 
with  you."  You  say,  ''Well,  preacher,  if  I  had  that 
chance."  Do  not  say  that,  for  many  a  man  saw  the  Son  of 
God  with  his  eyes,  and  his  heart  did  not  believe.  •*  Blessed 
are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  beUeved."  May 
that  benediction  be  yours  and  mine  increasingly,  for  His 
name's  sake.     Amen. 


::sa::r^ 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  s.  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


Ilegent  (Square  |3ttlpit. 


THE   ANGEL-SLUMMERS. 


Pkeached  in  Eegent   Square  Presbyterian  Church, 
ON  Sunday  Morning,  January  25th,  1891, 


REV.  JOHN  McNeill. 


Text — Genesis  xix.  15. 

Some  time  ago  we  read  that  "  slumming "  had  become 
fashionable,  because  some  great  folks  had  gone  down  into 
the  East  End  to  see  its  misery  for  themselves.  That  is,  ■ 
however,  a  very  late  date  at  which  to  put  the  **  fashionable- 
ness"  of  slumming.  Here  are  augel-slummers  millenniums 
ago  ;  forerunners  also  of  the  Great  Slummer,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  faint  shadows  flung  out  of  heaven  and  appearing  on 
the  earth ;  adumbrations  of  Him  who  was  coming  to  seek 
and  to  save  the  lost. 

It  should  help  us  to  look  into  this  narrative,  and  from 
these  angels  learn  something  of  how  we  ought  to  rescue  the 
perishing ;  for  our  circumstances,  after  all,  are  not  so 
dissimilar.  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  were  the  wickedest 
cities  that  ever  appeared — until  London  and  Paris,  New 

Vol.  III.— No.  12. 


170  THE  ANGEL-SLUMMERS. 

York  and  San  Francisco  came  up.  I  verily  believe  all  the 
abominations  that  ever  were  in  Sodom  are  in  our  own  city 
at  this  moment.  And  I  am  not  a  croaker,  and  you  are  not  to 
call  me  a  croaker.  If  you  call  me  croaker,  I  may  turn 
round  and  call  you  cuckoo,  sitting  on  a  tree,  chirping  away 
at  your  little  song,  trying  to  make  out  that  this  is  the  best 
of  all  possible  worlds.  It  is  all  pleasant,  all  a  sweet  April 
morning — so  you  think.  I  am  neither  an  optimist,  in  the 
ordinary  sense,  nor  a  pessimist.  There  is  a  very  bright 
light  shining,  but  there  is  also  a  very  deep  and  dense  dark- 
ness. Even  the  New  Testament  does  nothing  to  relieve  the 
blackness  ;  it  only  makes  it  blacker.  Certainly  there  is  a 
kind  of  sin,  there  is  an  abomination  to-day  in  London — it 
may  be  in  your  own  heart,  my  hearer — that  was  not  found 
among  the  vileness  of  Sodom ;  I  mean  the  rejection  of  the 
Son  of  God.  A  deeper  darkness  lies  across  the  land  to-day 
than  even  then,  and  a  deeper  doom  impends :  "  the  Lord 
shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  in  flaming  fire,  to  take  ven- 
geance on  them  ....  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  His  Son." 
Then  how  we  ought  to  work  ! 

"  When  the  morning  arose,  then  the  angels  hastened  Lot, 
saying.  Arise,  take  thy  wife."  The  angels.  Well,  if  angels 
left  their  heavenly  seats  to  come  to  such  a  work,  I  think 
some  of  us  might  be  beginning  to  touch  it  with  a  long  stick 
by  this  time.  I  think  it  might  be  a  little  more  your  own 
concern,  my  hearer — your  own  affair.  If  you  will  allow  me 
to  put  it  that  way,  it  might  be  still  more  fashionable  than 
it  is.  Some  of  us  dearly  love  to  watch  great  people ;  and  if 
great  people  will  turn  slummers,  we  will  follow  them.     If 


THE   ANGEL-SLUMMERS.  171 

the  gentry — for  we  dearly  love  the  gentry,  they  are  our 
mark,  our  way,  and  our  end — if  they  take  an  interest  in 
philanthropic  movements,  in  alleviating  distress,  we  will  go 
with  them.  Here  is  our  mark  !  This  work  is  carried  on 
under  the  auspices  not  only  of  angels,  but  of  the  Lord  of 
angels  and  of  men.  The  Gospel  heightens  and  deepens  the 
impression  as  we  watch  these  heavenly  visitors.  "  This  is 
a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation  :  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners."  Oh,  how 
strong  ought  to  be  the  urgency  and  pressure  upon  us  I 
How,  by  every  consideration,  we  ought  to  be  moved  out  of 
selfishness  and  of  indifference,  and  out  of  relegating  thd 
work  to  others,  to  putting  our  own  hand  to,  if  we  possibly 
can. 

There  is  no  doubt  about  the  sin,  if  we  believe  what  our 
eyes  see.  Even  if  we  turn  away  from  God's  Book,  the 
newspapers  shall  convince  us  and  sadden  us.  The  printed 
page  in  the  morning  almost  makes  us  afraid  to  let  our 
morning  paper  lie,  lest  our  children  should  lift  it.  There  is 
no  getting  rid  of  or  minimizing  our  sin  :  the  gilded  sin,  the 
ungilded  sin ;  the  secret  sin,  and  the  raging  open  sin  ;  the 
natural,  and  the  unnatural;  the  ordinary,  and  the  "  super- 
fluity  of  naughtiness."  And  there  is  no  minimizing  or  getting 
rid  of  the  doom.  We  believe  in  God,  and  we  believe  in  God's 
"Word ;  in  Christ,  and  in  His  Cross.  Therefore  we  believe 
at  once  in  the  doom  of  sin,  and  in  the  way  of  escape 
for  sinners.  "  The  damnation  slumbereth  not."  "  The 
Judge  is  at  the  door."  **  From  henceforth  the  time  is 
shortened."      Then  how  we  ought  to  be  up  and  doing,  we 


172  THE    ANGEL-SLUMMERS. 

ourselves.  When  angeis  came,  you  might  go,  my  hearer.  I 
sometimes  fear  lest  I  have  been  too  tender  with  some :  I 
have  made  excuses  for  you,  and  have  accepted  your  own ; 
but  when  I  look  at  these  angel-slummers,  I  am  not  sure  that 
I  should.  When  they  came,  and  did  not  think  it  any 
demeaning  of  their  dignity  to  come,  and  to  lay  hold  of  poor 
wretches  who  did  not  know  their  own  mercies,  to  hustle 
them,  and  bustle  them,  and  hasten  them,  I  think  I  ought 
to  speak  more  firmly  to  this  congregation  in  Eegent 
Square,  those  whom  I  know,  and  those  I  don't  know.  My 
friend,  maybe  you  are  a  little  too  dignified;  maybe  you 
are  possessed  with  a  notion  that  earnest  rescue 
work  is  not  for  you,  but  for  Salvation  Army  folks, 
or  brazen-faced  men  like  myself,  who  stand  at  any  street 
corner  and  shout  and  make  fools  of  themselves.  God 
save  you,  and  strip  you  of  these  filthy  rags  of  your  so-called 
refinement.  Nay,  nay,  friend,  my  words  are  sharp,  but  my 
heart  is  warm  :  the  urgency  is  great.  We  want  the  brightest, 
the  fairest,  the  best  born  and  bred  and  dowered,  for  the 
roughest  work ;  we  want  the  chief  sitters  in  our  pews,  tha 
shining  ones,  the  leaders  of  *'  fashionable  churches  "  and 
"  fashionable  religion  "  to  show  that  after  all  there  is  only 
one  fashion.  One  is  our  Master,  even  Christ,  and  all  we 
are  brethren ;  saved  ourselves  by  grace,  that  we  may  hastily 
and  heartily  save  others.  May  the  angels  lay  hold  of  some 
of  us  this  morning  to  go  out  with  us  to  rescue  work.  Verily 
we  shall  be  in  good  company.  Eemember,  above  all,  that 
you  go  with  our  Lord  and  Master  Jesus  Christ.  And  you 
never  did  a  grander  or  more  glorious  thing  ;  you  never  did 


THE   ANGEL-SLUMMERS.  i7o 

anything  that  better  became  your  silks  and  satins  than  going 
out  to  rescue  sinners.  You  are  not  degrading  yourself,  you 
are  not  stepping  down;  you  are  stepping  up,  up,  up!  All  heaven 
is  intensely  interested  in  saving  sinners  :  so  interested  that 
it  does  not  stand  afar  off  and  nourish  itself  "  in  dainty  loves 
and  slothful  sympathies,"  but  comes  down  and  in  to  the 
very  darkest  and  foulest,  and  lays  hold,  as  here,  with  its 
own  shining  hands. 

And  then  notice  whom  they  came  to  rescue.  **  The  angels 
hastened  Lot."  Lot.  Ah !  friend,  it's  an  awful  problem, 
life  in  a  great  city.  Look  at  this  poor  Lot,  and  think  what 
a  sad  pass  he  has  come  to,  that  he  should  need  to  be 
hastened.  I  have  been  talking  about  slums  and  skimmers, 
and  perhaps  making  you  think  you  are  to  start  off 
incontinently  to  some  dark  and  degraded  part  of  the  city  ; 
while  lo,  there  is  Lot  sitting  next  to  you  !  Decent  man, 
Lot.  Eeligious  man.  Lot.  Well-brought-up  man.  Lot. 
And  yet  he  is  in  imminent  danger  of  the  devouring  fire. 
He  is  becoming  steadily  part  and  parcel  of  Sodom's 
iniquity ;  he,  and  his  wife,  and  his  daughters,  and  all  that 
he  has  steadily,  steadily  being  sucked  down  in  its  dark  and 
swirling  vortex.  Not  giving  up  God,  not  giving  up  religious 
profession  outwardly;  but  he  is  "in  Sodom,"  steeped  in 
it,  and  it  will  need  a  pull  and  a  leverage  from  the  throne  of 
God  Himself  to  hft  him  out  of  the  bog  where  he  is  sinking. 

It  was  Lot  whom  they  went  to  hasten.  I  speak  to  Lot 
this  morning,  and  I  would  speak  warningly  and  yet  encourag- 
ingly. Ah  !  Lot,  it  was  a  bad  day  for  you  when  you  parted 
with   Abraham,  a  bad   day  when   you   pitched  your   tent 


174  THE    ANGEL-SLUMMERS. 

towards  Sodom  because  there  was  better  grass  there,  better 
forage  for  your  flocks.  For  you  not  only  pitched  your  tent 
towards  Sodom,  by-and-bye  we  got  you  living  in  it.  A  bad 
day  for  some  of  you  when  you  came  to  London.  You  never 
knew  how  little  religious  pith,  and  stamina,  and  backbone 
were  in  you  until  you  came.  Out  yonder  in  a  quiet  country 
place  you  were  a  decent  elder  or  deacon.  You  were  so 
shored  up  yonder,  Abraham  on  the  right  hand,  and  some 
other  body  on  the  left  hand,  that  you  never  knew  what  a 
weakling  you  were.  You  made  a  respectable  appearance, 
and  show,  and  muster,  for  you  were  well  surrounded  and 
held  up.  You  were  in  a  little  place,  and  a  great  many 
people  knew  you.  You  could  not  hide  yourself,  and  you  and 
your  family  were  very  regular  at  Church  and  Sabbath- 
school.  But  coming  to  London — alas !  alas !  you  have  got 
on  in  one  way,  but  you  have  got  fearfully  "off"  in  another 
way.  You  are  a  richer  man  to-day,  you  live  in  a  bigger 
house,  your  sons  and  daughters  have  grown  up  and  got 
well  married  and  settled,  like  yourself.  But  it  is  all  on  the 
surface — in  behind,  what  rottenness  ;  in  behind,  what  for- 
bodings  ;  in  behind,  what  regrets,  what  yearnings  for  those 
poorer  but  cleaner,  holier,  and  happier  days. 

It  is  Lot  who  has  to  be  rescued — Lot  who  should  have 
needed  it,  so  to  speak,  no  more  than  Abraham  himself. 
Oh  the  power  of  the  world !  Oh  how  it  tries  us  and  proves 
us,  as  God  often  said  to  Israel,  '*  To  show  us  what  is  in  our 
hearts,  and  whether  we  will  walk  in  His  law  or  no."  Now, 
I  do  not  mean  for  a  moment  to  say  that  we  are  all  that 
way.      Abraham   grew,    Abraham    flourished   and    waxed 


THE   ANGEL-SLUMMERS.  175 

great,  and  rich,  and  mighty.  He  had  faith;  his  spirituaUty 
kept  pace  with  his  material  advantage  and  increase.  But 
there  are  many  Lots  who  succeed  temporally  at  the  expense 
of  their  spiritual  welfare;  who  barter  eternity  for  time; 
who  make  the  worse  appear  the  better  reason ;  who  go  into 
shady  ways  and  methods,  trying  to  make  out  that  they  are 
not  shady,  or  that  they  will  take  the  **  shade"  off  them. 
"  I  will  stand  firm.  True,  I  am  going  into  Sodom,  but  I 
will  make  Sodom  serve  my  ends.  I  will  buy  and  sell,  but 
I  will  go  no  further  than  buying  and  selling.  I  will  be  true 
to  God,  I  will  set  a  fence  of  godly  principle  about  my 
home  and  about  my  business.  When  it  comes  to  morals, 
and  conscience,  and  religion,  I  will  be  as  sound  as  a  bell,  as 
firm  as  a  rock."  And  have  you?  Have  you?  Alas !  alas! 
how  many  overrate  their  strength  and  underrate  the  power 
of  common  custom  and  example,  and  forget  that  word  in 
the  New  Testament,  "  Because  of  abounding  iniquity  the 
love  of  many  shall  wax  cold."  Oh  how  often  that  is 
exemplified  by  people  who  come  up  to  London  !  They  get 
on  outwardly,  but  they  go  down  inwardly.  In  all  that 
makes  a  man  a  man,  in  all  that  makes  your  house  a  home, 
in  all  that  makes  for  true  wealth  and  success,  you  are  a 
poorer,  cheaper  creature  than  when  you  came  here. 

May  the  angels'  words  to-day  stir  up  and  rouse  us : 
"  Arise,  take  thy  wife  and  two  daughters :  escape  for  thy 
life ;  look  not  behind  thee,  neither  stay  in  all  the  plain , 
but  flee  to  the  mountain,  lest  thou  be  consumed." 

**  They  hastened."  Oh  for  Divine  urgency  !  Mightn't 
we  take  a  leaf  out  of  their  book  in  the  matter  of  urgency  ? 


176  THE   ANGEL-SLUMMEES. 

"  They  hastened  Lot."  Even  the  warmest  of  us,  are  we 
as  warm  as  we  should  be,  as  warm  as  we  might  be  ?  Are 
we  not  a  little  afraid  almost  of  earnestness  ?  Hasn't  it 
become  a  little  unfashionable  to  plead  with  people  ?  The 
angels  were  not  ashamed  to  be  in  earnest.  Hear  it,  hear 
it,  HEAR  IT,  ye  superfines  !  The  angels  were  not  ashamed 
of  being  in  dead  earnest.  Hear  it,  divinity-students, 
coming  preachers,  the  angels  were  not  ashamed  to  be 
anxious  and  urgent,  and  to  lay  hold  of  people  with  their 
hands.  I  am  afraid  we,  their  successors,  are  losing  our- 
selves. Now,  I  do  not  say  that  we  need  to  be  rough,  or 
rude,  or  boisterous,  but  I  do  say  that  a  large  amount  of 
present-day  preaching  in  pulpits,  and  in  missions,  and, 
indeed.  Gospel  work  generally,  will  never  serve  the  need 
or  do  the  turn.  It  is  too  dainty,  it  is  too  mighty 
fine  altogether.  The  devil  can  stand  it  beautifully. 
He  doesn't  care  how  much  of  it  goes  on ;  it  hurries  up 
nobody.  There  is  too  much  ice  and  icicle  about  it— too 
much  of  self-consciousness  about  it,  as  if  the  angels  had 
moved  about  saying,  "  I  wonder  what  our  friends  will  think 
when  they  see  us  down  here  among  these  shady  people." 
They  had  no  self-consciousness  or  vanity.  They  only 
thought  of  their  Lord,  and  their  message,  and  the  dangers. 
Angels  believe  in  the  "  terror  of  the  Lord  "  ;  and  you  will 
never,  never  get  vulgar  if  you  are  in  earnest,  and  you  may 
be  most  horribly  vulgar  when  you  think  you  are  charmingly 
fine.  There  is  too  much — perhaps  it  is  too  roughly  ex- 
pressed; but  I  will  risk  it — of  this  damning  vulgarity 
abroad  to-day:  an  earnestness  that  doesn't  plead,  that  has 


THE    ANGEL-SLUMMERS.  177 

no  tear  in  its  eye,  no  outgoing  hand  nor  strong  warning 
voice.  It  is  so  calm,  and  writes  down  its  little  wordies  on 
a  paper,  and  reads  the  little  wordies  off,  and  never  lifts  its 
little  voice  nor  breaks  its  little  rules  and  proprieties.  So 
correct,  and  50  thoughtful,  and  so  refined,  while  Lot  is  going 
to  the  devil !  I  am  not  against  thoughtfulness ;  I  am  not 
against  true  culture,  true  refinement ;  but,  as  God  would 
have  me  to  be  an  honest  man,  from  the  soul  within  me  I 
am  increasingly  against  the  bastard  culture,  the  bastard 
refinement,  the  Brummagem  thoughtfulness  that  stands  in 
pulpits  and  professes  to  work  in  mission  halls.  Hence  ! 
far  hence,  ye  profane  !  I  know — I  admit  it !  There  is  also  a 
kind  of  bastard  earnestness.  You  can  roar,  and  stamp,  and 
rage,  and  foam  at  the  mouth,  and  not  be  in  earnest ;  and 
you  can  be  very  quiet  outwardly,  and  very  calm,  and  yet 
be  very  intense. 

So  the  angels  hastened  Lot.  They  put  heart  into  it; 
they  felt  the  burden.  Sabbath-school  teacher,  there  is 
a  word  for  you  to-day.  Trying  to  bring  it  home  to  myself, 
I  would  like  to  bring  it  home  to  you.  A  little  more  heart, 
please,  a  little  more  urgency,  a  little  more  earnestness. 
**  Oh,"  said  one  to  me,  "  I  find  the  longer  I  preach,  that 
I  fail  in  pleading  with  men."  It  is  grand  to  make  the 
discovery.  "  I  cannot  plead  with  men,"  he  says.  x\nd 
why?  He  cannot  break  away  from  convention,  and  routine, 
and  decorum,  and,  like  a  living,  warm-blooded,  earnest 
man,  say,  "  Flee  from  the  wrath  to  come.  I  am  afraid 
of  you.  Pardon  me  for  leaving  my  paper,  but  you  are 
in   danger    of   the    everlasting   burning,  the    blackness  of 


178  THE   ANGEL-SLUMMEES. 

darkness  for  ever.  Worldliness  is  killing  you,  formal 
religion  is  ruining  you,  and  I  want  to  speak  plainly,  and 
hasten  you." 

"  They  hastened  Lot,  saying,  Arise,  take  thy  wife.'* 
That  one  word  I  dwell  upon,  *'  Arise."  It  is  repeated  later 
on,  when  they  said  **  Escape,"  and  still  further,  when  they 
said  *'  Flee."  We,  who  are  coming  to  do  work  for  Christ  in 
this  great  city,  need  to  use  plain,  short,  sharp,  rousing 
words.  For  the  last  thing  men  will  do  is  to  rise.  Ah  !  my 
friend,  the  distressing  thing  about  you  is  you  are  so  difficult 
to  lift.  Possibly  you  are  sitting  here  and  saying  in  your 
heart,  **  I  like  it.  I  come  here  because  the  preacher  is  un- 
conventional." You  can  go  to  the  devil  under  unconven- 
tional preaching.  The  trouble  with  some  of  you  is  you  are  so 
pliant.  "  That's  it !  Put  it  straight ;  give  it  us  hot ;  go 
ahead  !"  But  you  sit  still.  If  ever  you  are  to  be  saved, 
some  of  you,  there  will  need  to  be  very,  very  close  dealing. 
There  will  be  need  of  coming  to  very  close  quarters  with  you. 

**  While  he  lingered,  the  angels  laid  hold  upon  his  hand, 
and  upon  the  hand  of  his  wife."  God  save  you,  poor 
Pliable  !  **  You  bend  to  the  breeze,  and  vanquish  the 
breeze  by  bending  to  it."  Coming  and  going,  coming  and 
going,  coming  and  going ;  but  no  rising,  no  fleeing,  no 
salvation.  O  God,  make  me  honest  and  urgent  with 
perishing  men  !  Are  you  saved,  my  lad  ?  Are  you  in 
Christ  ?  Escape  for  thy  life.  Look  not  behind  thee. 
Flee  to  the  mountain,  lest  thou  be  consumed.  Nothing  less 
than  angels,  I  believe,  would  have  availed  with  Lot ;  any- 
thing less  than  this  urgency,  and  he  and  all  he  had  would  have 


THE   ANGEL-SLUMMERS.  179 

been  overwhelmed.  For  you  know,  though  we  preach  the 
Gospel,  it  is  only  a  Gospel  at  a  certain  point.  The  gospel 
of  escape,  "Flee  for  your  life,"  is  only  a  gospel  when  a  man 
believes  he  is  in  danger,  not  till  then.  The  Gospel  that 
says,  "  The  great  Physician  now  is  near,"  is  a  Gospel 
to  folks  who  know  they  are  sick,  and  will  go  and  put 
themselves  under  His  care.  But  there  is  our  difficulty.  I 
believe  there  was  no  city  in  all  the  world  that  believed  less 
in  fire  and  brimstone  than  Sodom  an  hour  before  the 
shower.  So  with  you.  I  know  there  are  some  here  who 
do  not  believe  in  this,  and  they  say,  '*  If  you  can't  move 
men  by  love,  you  will  never  drive  them  by  force."  I  believe 
in  this  ;  I  believe  the  day  is  coming,  and  we  have  all  got  to 
pass  thirough  it,  prophesied  by  Enoch,  the  seventh  from 
Adam,  "  Behold,  the  Lord  cometh  to  execute  judgment 
upon  all,  and  to  convince  all  of  their  ungodly  deeds  that 
they  have  ungodly  committed."  The  doom  is  not  abolished; 
the  darkness  and  the  terror  are  but  intensified.  So  I  hasten 
you.  We  should  all  be  eager,  and  strenuous,  and  urgent, 
avoiding  rudeness,  avoiding  roughness,  but  filled  with  loving 
anxiety,  delivered  from  a  mere  lip  service  and  formality> 
using  glowing  words  that  come  from  glowing  hearts. 

"  And  while  he  lingered,  the  men  laid  hold  upon  his 
hand,  and  upon  the  hand  of  his  wife,  and  upon  the  hand  of 
his  two  daughters  ;  the  Lord  being  merciful  unto  him."  This 
is  only  a  bit  of  our  work  standing  up  here  preaching,  delivering 
discourses.  In  fact,  it  may  have  no  use  at  all ;  it  will  have 
use  if  we  are  in  earnest,  but  there  is  a  coming  closer  stilL 
That  is  what  I  have  been  hinting  at  all  along — we  should 


180  THE    ANGEL-SLUMMERS. 

get  into  close  grips  with  our  congregations,  and  with  all  this 
London.  How  many  men  and  women  who  have  resisted 
sermons  have  been  unable  to  resist  a  warm  clasp  of  the 
hand,  the  other  hand  upon  the  shoulder,  the  tender, 
earnest,  pleading  look  right  into  the  face.  Try  it,  my 
hearer,  try  it  on  with  somebody  to-day.  Do  not  let 
London  go  down  in  its  wallowing  sin  without  trying  this. 
And  remember  that  we  have  an  urgency,  we  have  a  battery 
to  bring  to  bear  on  poor  sinners  and  backsliders  that  the 
angels  did  not  have.  The  angels  would  have  a  certain 
stand-offishness  just  where  we  should  have  a  **  standinish- 
ness."  We  can  go  to  sinners  and  say,  *'  My  brother,  flee, 
for  I  know  what  it  is  to  be  a  sinner,  and  I  know  what 
the  safety  is."  The  angels  could  not  say  that.  I  read 
nowhere  in  the  Bible  of  angels  shedding  tears.  We  could 
shed  tears — 

**  Tears  of  sucli  pure,  such  deep  delight, 
Ye  angels,  never  dimmed  your  sight." 

They  never  sinned  ;  we  have  sinned.  We  have  come  back 
from  the  mountain  of  safety  to  the  city  only  to  take 
others  away  up  with  us.  Where  are  you,  dear  brother, 
rescued  from  drink  ?  Lay  hold  of  some  one  else.  Do  not 
preach  sermons  at  him  in  the  technical,  academic  sense,  but 
grasp  him  by  the  hand,  and  put  the  other  on  his  shoulder, 
and  tell  him  what  an  angel  could  not  tell  him.  That  is 
why  the  angel  is  not  here.  Be  you  his  angel,  his  minister 
of  grace  ;  be  you  the  vessel  of  God's  mercy  to  his  fainting 
heart.  Tell  him  what  Christ  has  done  for  you  with  an 
urgency  and  eagerness  that  no  angel  can  command.     Speak 


THE    ANGEL-SLUMMERS.  181 

to  him  out  of  your  own  heart,  and  out  of  your  own 
experience  to-day. 

**  Rescue  the  [)cris]iing,  care  for  the  dying, 
Snatch  them  in  pity  from  sin  and  the  grave  ; 
Weep  o'er  the  erring  one,  lift  up  the  fallen 
Tell  them  of  Jesus,  the  mighty  to  save." 

Thank  God  for  that ;  that  we  have  a  greater  tenderness, 
through  grace,  that  we  are  greater  in  urgency  than  any 
angel  or  archangel  could  be.  The  Lord  gets  Himself 
brought  to  bear  with  greater  power  upon  a  sinner  through 
a  saved  sinner  than  through  an  unf alien  angel.  For 
that  we  were  redeemed,  for  that  we  have  been  plucked  out 
of  the  fire,  that  we  might  pluck  others — alas !  alas !  how 
many  of  us  forget, 

I  have  other  matters  to  touch  upon,  and  I  must  not  keep 
you.  I  come  back  to  the  "thou."  I  want  to  reach  you 
to-day,  my  friend,  those  of  you  who  stand  in  doubt,  those 
who  are  not  on  the  mountain,  those  who  are  not  outside 
the  circle  of  destruction  and  inside  the  circle  of  grace  and 
salvation,  those  who  are  tempted  to  look  back,  those  who 
are  held  down  by  worldly  considerations,  held  down  by  the 
influence  of  society,  held  down  by  the  influence  of  a  cold, 
formal  Church  society.  Thou  singer  in  the  choir,  **  Lest 
thou  be  consumed,"  art  thou  saved?  Thou  that  leadest 
the  praises  of  the  redeemed  in  this  house  of  prayer,  art 
thou  redeemed  thyself  ?  Or  are  you  sitting  there  a  poor, 
miserable  backslider,  or  worldling,  only  wearing  the 
clothes  of  religion,  but  unsaved,  unsanctifled;  belonging 
in  heart  to  Sodom,  to  London,  to  its  giddiness,  its  frivolity, 


182  THE   ANGEL-SLUMMEKS. 

its  Christlessness,  its  doom?  "What!"  says  Lot,  "you 
don't  mean  to  say  God  will  consume  me — me,  Abraham's 
nephew  ?  Would  God  actually  rain  fire  and  brimstone  on 
a  gentleman  like  me?"  Don't  smile;  some  of  you  think 
He  won't.  "  Unless  ye  repent  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish." 
*'  Lest  thou  be  consumed."  "  What !  I— I,  with  a  godly 
father  and  praying  mother ;  and  coming  up  and  up  through 
Sunday-school  and  Bible-class— w«?  Yes,  thou.  Eemem- 
ber  Lot's  wife  ;  the  wife  of  a  godly  man,  related  to  some  of 
the  truly  exalted  of  the  earth,  and  she  looked  back  and  be- 
came a  pillar  of  salt.  The  heart  within  her  belonged  to 
Sodom.  Her  religion  was  only  an  external  thing;  her 
doom  was  just. 

**  Lest  thou  be  consumed."  Where  can  I  get  my  eye  to 
fasten  upon  a  grey  head  ?  *'  Lest  thou  be  consumed."  Can 
I  get  my  eye  to  fall  upon  some  fair  youth,  bright,  and 
burning,  and  eager.  In  London  here,  clever,  astute, 
growing  in  years  and  growing  in  worldly  wisdom,  aye,  and 
growing  too  in  amiability,  growing  too  in  culture  of  mind, 
growing  in  manly  strength — "Escape  thou,  lest  thou  be 
consumed."  Can  I  make  it  plainer  that  your  preacher 
beheves  in  a  real  heaven,  and  an  awful  destruction,  with 
just  time  to  flee  ?  Flee  from  the  wrath  that  is  coming,  to 
the  mercy  that  has  come  before  the  wrath.  The  storm  is 
coming,  but  the  ark  is  here  before  it.  The  doom  slumbers 
not ;  but  the  open  door  of  escape  turns  on  its  hinges  here 
to  receive  you. 

And  then  just  a  closing  word.  It  is  not  only  "  thou,"  but 
I  am  thinking  of  all  your  belongings— your  wife,  your  son, 


THE   ANGEL-SLUMMER3.  183 

your  daughter,  your  daughter-in-law,  your  son-in-law.  The 
angels  under  God's  authority  mentioned  them  all,  for  this 
God  of  ours  wants  to  save  us  all,  all  our  kith  and  kin, 
nearer  or  more  remote.  Not  a  hoof  need  be  left  behind ; 
thou  and  thy  wife,  and  thy  son's  wife,  they  can  all  go  into 
the  ark ;  it  is  a  family  boat,  it  is  a  house-boat,  there  is  room, 
blessed  be  God,  for  us  all.  Come,  husband  ;  come,  wife  ; 
come,  father ;  come,  mother ;  come,  brother ;  come,  sister ; 
come,  you  to  whom  we  have  got  related  by  marriage,  **  the 
wife's  folk  "  ;  my  husband's  folk,  come.  By  means  of  these 
marriage  ties  God  is  wanting  to  cast  the  grappling  irons 
of  grace  on  vessels  that  otherwise  would  sweep  to  the 
reef  of  destruction. 

God  grant  that  something  has  been  said  to  rouse  workers 
to  do  better  work,  and  to  rouse  those  who  need  to  be  saved 
to  use  all  dihgence  in  putting  all  the  space  that  is  needful 
between  them  and  destruction.  And  here  is  all  that  is 
needed.  "He  that  believeth  shall  not  come  into  condem- 
nation, but  is  passed  from  death  unto  life."     Amen, 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  W. 


^tqmt  §qmxt  flulpit, 


THE   PASSIONATE    PILGBIM. 


Preached   in   Exeter  Hall,  on  January  11th,  1891, 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL 


Text — "And  Ruth  said,  lutreat  me  not  to  leave  thee,  or  to  return 
from  following  after  thee  :  for  whither  thou  goest,  I  will  go  ;  and  where 
thou  lodgest,  I  will  lodge  :  thy  people  shall  be  my  people,  and  thy  God 
my  God."— Ruth  i.  16. 

The  strongest  thought,  the  leading  idea,  the  practical  idea 
in  my  mind  in  connection  with  this  text,  is  simply  this,  that 
what  you  have  here  working  between  Euth  and  Naomi  is 
an  element  between  the  soul  of  man  and  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  I  want  to  state  this  idea,  and,  as  the  Lord  the 
Spirit  shall  help  me,  to  work  round  about  it,  and  to  bring  it 
home,  and  to  make  a  nail  of  it,  so  to  speak,  and,  by  repeated 
blows,  to  drive  it  in.  I  take  it,  therefore,  for  illustration 
and  application  in  that  direction.  I  say  that  what  you 
have  here  is  a  true,  valid,  unmistakable  element  in  religion 
— this  warm,  loving,  melting,  unspeakable  tenderness — this 
whole-hearted,  irrevocable  decision  in  an  hour  or  a  moment 
of  crisis. 

Vol.  III.— No.  13. 


186  THE   PASSIONATE   PILGRIM. 

You  remember  how  Euth  came  to  this  crisis  in  her  life's 
history.     Some  ten  years  before  this,  old  Naomi  had  gone 
away  from  Israel  into  the  country  of  Moab.      Some  time 
afterwards  her  husband  died.     She  had  two  sons,  and  they 
had  married  two  women  of  Moab.     The  sons  also  died,  and 
now  Naomi,  older,  lonelier,  more  hopeless  and  helpless  and 
heartless  than  ever,  rises  up  to  wend  her  weary  way  back 
to  her  own  country.      She  had  been  driven  out  by  famine 
years  before.     She  now  hears  that  the  Lord  has  visited  His 
people,  and  that  where  there  used  to  be  famine  there  is 
abundance ;    so  she  comes  back  again,  poor  old  body,  like  a 
shuttle  tossed  here  and  there.     Is  she  not  like  some  of  our- 
selves—tossed here  and  there  like  a  cork  on  the  stream, 
seemingly  the  very  sport  of  adverse  winds  and  waves  and 
circumstances?     "I  came  out  full,"  she  said;  "  I  go  back 
empty."      She  is  poured  out  from  vessel  to  vessel,  with  no 
abiding  rest,  and,  seemingly,  with  no  prosperity  in  her  life. 
And  when  she  starts  to  take  the  long  journey  home  again  to 
Bethlehem,  her  own  land,  her  two  daughters-in-law,  Euth 
and  Orpah,  themselves  widowed  and  bereaved,  go  naturally 
a  bit  of  the  road  along  with  her.      We  ourselves  remember 
a    time    when    we    started    out    to     go    on    some    dis- 
tant journey,  and  some  loving  friend  or  two  accompanied 
us ;  but  of  course  there  came  the  exact  point  in  time  and 
place  when  the  convoy  came  to  an  end.     We  turn  round 
and  face  each  other.     We  have  been  talking,  and  talking, 
and  trying  to  be  cheery,  while  our  heart  was  very  sad; 
and,  at  last,  in  a  certain  point  in  the  road,  we  pull  up,  and 
our  friends  say,  "  There  is  no  use  in  our  going  any  farther." 


THE    PASSIONATE    PILGEIM.  187 

*'  No,"  we  say,  "  there  is  no  use."  And  we  face  each  other, 
and  shake  hands,  and  the  last  good-bye  is  spoken,  and  we 
part.  And,  in  some  such  way  as  that,  the  old  wrinkled 
body  turned  round  to  her  two  daughters-in-law  and  said, 
"  Now,  turn  back.  Go  back.  Thank  you  for  all  your 
kindness  in  the  past.  I  hope  that  I  have  not  been  unkind 
to  you."  **  It  will  be  a  pleasant  memory,"  she  might  have 
said,  "  in  the  midst  of  the  doleful  memories  that  must  bide 
with  me  as  long  as  I  live,  that  I  knew  you,  and  that  we 
parted  good  friends."  And  Orpah  kisses  her,  and  then 
goes  away  back  again.  But  suddenly,  Euth,  who,  perhaps, 
has  been  standing  apart,  flings  herself  forward,  womanlike, 
and  puts  her  arms  round  Naomi's  neck,  bends  her  head 
down  on  the  aged  breast,  and  says,  "  Intreat  me  not  to 
leave  thee,  nor  to  return  from  following  after  thee  :  for 
whither  thou  goest,  I  will  go ;  and  where  thou  lodgest,  I 
will  lodge  :  thy  people  shall  be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my 
God :  where  thou  diest,  will  I  die,  and  there  will  I  be 
buried  :  the  Lord  do  so  to  me,  and  more  also,  if  ought  but 
death  part  thee  and  me." 

Well  spoken,  Euth  !  Well  spoken !  We  shall  always 
turn  to  Euth,  and  to  what  she  said,  with  tender,  softened, 
chastened  feelings ;  and  I  feel  sure  you  will  accuse  me  of 
no  forcing  when  I  repeat  what  I  said  before.  I  will  ask 
you  to  come  to  this  position  to-night,  and  to  find  in  these 
sobbing,  throbbing,  trembUng  tones  what  ought  to  be  the 
tone  of  some  hearts  to-night  in  this  hour  of  crisis  to  One 
who  is  worthy  of  such  affection — worthy  of  this  outgushing 
and   swelling  of  our  deepest  soul   within  us,   even  Jesus 


188  THE    PASSIONATE    PILGRIM. 

Christ  who  stands  among  us,  and  gives  us  the  opportunity 
of  a  new  career,  and  a  boundless,  endless  life  and  destiny 
— boundless,  and  blessed,  and  endless  as  His  own. 

Ay,  this  is  in  religion.  You  know  that  we  are  usually 
evangelistic  on  the  Sabbath  evening.  I  do  not  know  that 
we  are  much  else  at  any  time  ;  but  on  the  Sabbath  evening 
we  try  to  harp  on  this  single  string,  and  I  trust  that  we  are 
not  getting  monotonous.  Now,  to-night  we  are  back  there 
again ;  but  sometimes,  you  know,  on  Sabbath  evenings  I 
am  arguing  with  you ;  I  am  pleading  with  you ;  I  am 
setting  forth  the  rationale  of  things  ;  I  am  addressing  your 
understanding ;  I  am  speaking  to  you  as  unto  wise  men, 
and  saying,  **  Judge  ye  what  I  say."  In  these  ways  I  am 
trying  to  reach  and  touch  the  springs  which  reached  and 
touched  down  there  in  the  world,  caused  you  to  decide  this 
way  or  the  other  way — caused  you  to  adopt  this  plan  and 
method  of  life  or  the  other.  Now,  to-night  I  would  like  to 
try  another  way.  To-night  I  would  like  to  say  that  it  is 
time  that  you  had  got  past  that.  To-night  I  would  like 
to  bring  you  before  Euth  and  Naomi  on  the  roadside. 
I  am  entitled,  or  the  Lord  is  entitled,  to  stand  among 
us  to-night,  and  to  get  from  us  something  better  than 
a  scrimp  decision,  as  if  we  hardly  knew  whether  this  world 
or  eternity  is  the  more  preferable;  as  if  we  hardly  knew 
whether  Christ  or  the  devil  was  going  to  be  the  best  choice 
and  the  best  portion,  but  calmly  and  cold-bloodedly,  and 
just  at  long  and  at  last,  we  would  try  Christ's  way.  Of 
course,  I  know  that  what  keeps  some  of  us  back  is  what 
might  have  kept  back  Euth  ;  and  thereby  our  passage  is 


THE   PASSIONATE    PILGRIM.  189 

still  further  illustrated.  There  was  not  much  to  draw  her 
to  Naomi  from  a  certain  point  of  view,  was  there  ?  Naomi 
was  old  and  withered — "homeless,  ragged,  and  tanned,"  I 
had  almost  said — poor,  lonely,  desolate.  She  had  no 
family ;  she  was  going  she  scarcely  knew  whither.  None 
of  the  things  that  make  life  desirable  seemed  to  lie  her  way. 
Now,  the  same  thing  is  in  Christ.  You  remember  what  we 
read  from  Isaiah  :  **  "Who  hath  believed  our  report,  and  to 
whom  is  the  arm  of  the  Lord  revealed?  "  From  one  point 
of  view  that  widowed  old  woman  and  our  Saviour  are 
not  unlike  each  other.  To  many  He  is  "  a  root  out  of  a 
dry  ground";  "He  hath  no  form  or  comeliness";  at 
the  first  look  that  they  get  of  Him,  '*  He  has  no  beauty 
that  men  should  desire  Him."  But  look  again,  my  friend : 
look  again.  Is  Christ  so  withered?  Is  He  so  wrinkled? 
Is  true  religion  such  "  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground  "  as 
from  certain  points  of  view  it  seems  to  be  ?  Have  not  some 
of  us  within  us  the  secret  force  drawing  us  to  Christ  which 
Euth  had  drawing  her  to  Naomi  ?  Away  back  yonder,  when 
the  great  sorrow  of  Euth's  life  came,  Naomi  was  a  power  to 
her.  Naomi  knew  the  God  of  Israel.  In  the  desolate  and 
lonely  hour  when  Euth's  young  husband  was  stricken 
down  from  her  side,  when  the  light  went  out  of  her  eyes, 
and  out  of  her  home,  and  out  of  her  heart,  I  have  no 
doubt  that  Naomi  appeared  to  Euth  to  be  a  wonderful 
woman. 

Naomi  knew  the  true  God.  When  the  cold,  senseless, 
dumb,  dead  idols  of  Moab  could  do  nothing  for  a  young, 
bursting,  sobbing,  breaking  heart,  then  old  Naomi  would 


190  THE    PASSIONATE    PILGRIM. 

come  near  with  the  faith  of  Israel,  and  with  her  prayer  to 
the  God  of  Israel.  And  all  that  is  rushing  through  Euth's 
blood  and  pulsing  in  her  veins,  as  she  stands  at  this  turn  of 
the  road  and  says,  "  I  cannot  leave  old  Naomi.  At  the 
thought  of  parting  with  her  this  flashes  in  upon  me.  She  is 
more  than  life,  and  meat,  and  drink,  and  wealth,  and  every- 
thing to  me.  To  be  with  her  is  life,  and  to  part  from  her  is 
darkness,  and  misery,  and  death."  And  that  is  in  religion. 
Let  me  ring  it  out  again  and  again.  Christ  is  that,  and  a 
thousand  times  more  than  that,  to  hearts  that  are  sitting 
beside  you  to-night.  Why  are  we  His?  Why  are  we 
with  Him  ?  Blessed  be  Thy  name,  0  Saviour ;  we  can 
say  without  exaggeration  that  we  are  with  Thee  becautje 
we  are  the  captives  of  love.  We  could  not  be  other 
than  we  are,  seeing  that  Christ  is  what  He  is  and  what 
He  has  been  to  us.  He  was  our  fathers'  God,  and  we 
will  extol  Him — our  mothers'  God,  and  our  lips  shall 
praise  Him.  He  has  been  recommended  to  us  by  a  whole 
life-time  of  grace  and  of  mercy ;  and  at  one  critical  hour 
on  one  never-to-be-forgotten  day,  we  were  in  this  crisis  in 
which  poor  Euth  was  placed.  We  made,  like  Euth,  the 
great,  momentous,  irrevocable  decision,  urged  forward  by  a 
thousand  considerations,  memory  bringing  out  of  past  years 
what  those  years  contained  to  help  us  to  decision.  The 
present,  and  the  past,  and  the  future,  like  deep  caUing 
unto  deep,  all  constrained  us  to  put  the  arms,  clinging, 
warm,  of  unfeigned  faith  and  love,  round  the  Son  of  God, 
and  to  say  to  Him,  **  Intreat  us  not  to  leave  Thee,  nor  to 
return  from  following  after  Thee,  O  Jesus  :  whither  Thou 


THE    PASSIONATE    PILGRIM.  191 

goest,  we  will  go  ;  where  Thou  lodgest,  we  will  lodge  :  Thy 
God  and  Thy  Home  shall  be  ours  also." 

Ay,  that  is  in  religion.  More  is  the  pity  that  we  have  to 
stand  arguing  and  arguing  and  arguing,  and  talking  and 
talking  and  talking  to  people's  intellects  and  heads  in  this 
nineteenth  century.  I  have  spoken  to  your  heads  long 
enough,  and  I  think  that  I  am  justified  to-night  in,  as  it 
were,  trying  to  carry  you  by  storm  and  making  a  strong 
pull  to-night  upon  the  heart  within  you.  Can  you  love  ? 
Can  you  love  your  mother?  Can  you  love  your  wife? 
Do  you  ever  feel  the  tug  at  your  heart-strings  of  powerful, 
gushing,  human  affection  ?  Then  I  claim  you  for  the  Son 
of  God. 

"  No  love  is  like  His  ;  unequalled  it  is 

By  that  of  a  mother  or  friend  ; 
AVhat  tongue  cannot  teach, 
What  thought  cannot  reach, 

'Tis  love  without  measure  or  end." 

That  is  Christ.  His  name  is  love.  If  I  knew  your  past,  as 
I  do  not,  I  would  bring  arguments  out  of  your  past  that 
would  make  you,  hastily,  with  all  Euth's  warmth,  and  im- 
petuosity, and  splendid  abandon,  fling  yourself,  body,  soul, 
and  spirit,  into  the  embrace  of  the  everlasting  arms. 

May  the  love  of  Christ  constrain  us  to-night. 

What  does  that  "  constrain"  mean?  It  means  the  love 
of  Christ  hurrying  us  along.  Paul  could  use  that  word ; 
Paul  could  use  it  justly.  Paul  was  none  of  your  cool  men. 
People  often  talk  about  Paul  and  say,  **  Paul  was  a  great 
man  of  logic.  Paul  was  a  wonderful  man  to  argue."  So 
he  was,  but  never,  never,  never  think  of  the  great  Apostle 
as    one    of    those    little    poor    peddling    creatures   called 


192  THE   PASSIONATE    PILGRIM. 

*'  logicians."  Logic  is  a  very  shrivelling  science  when 
there  is  nothing  but  itself.  Never  dream  of  Paul  as  being 
simply  one  of  your  argumentative  dry  logicians.  Paul  v^as 
a  volcano  in  a  perpetual  state  of  activity.  Logic?  Ay; 
but  logic  set  on  fire  with  love  to  Christ,  and  with  love  to 
the  souls  of  men.  And  he  said,  "The  love  of  Christ 
hurried  us  along.  The  love  of  Christ,  like  a  mighty  flood 
let  loose,  has  got  hold  of  us,  and  swept  us  off  our  old  bed, 
and  we  are  caught  and  carried  in  its  mighty  flood."  It 
was  love  that  bound  Euth  to  Naomi.  It  was  love  that 
made  her  forget  all  the  risks  and  all  the  chances,  and  all 
the  uncertainties.  What  will  not  a  man  or  woman  give  up 
for  love  ?  Is  not  the  best  literature,  is  not  the  brightest  song 
and  story,  filled  with  tales  of  love  ?  "What  he  has  given  up 
for  the  possession  of  her,  what  she  has  despised  and  trodden 
beneath  her  feet,  to  get  him  and  be  his  before  God  and  man 
for  ever  and  for  ever.  And — again  I  say  it,  and  would  God 
I  had  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels  to  ring  it  out — that 
is  in  religion.  Love  to  Christ.  Give  yourself  to  Him 
because  He  has  won  your  heart,  and  dare  to  say  to  the 
world,  "  I  have  made  common  cause  with  Jesus,  for  I  can- 
not do  without  Him.  It  has  suddenly  broken  upon  me.  He 
is  the  Day-star  in  my  dark  sky.  He  is  the  one  Being  who 
prevents  my  life  from  going  down  in  emptiness,  and  dark- 
ness, and  bankruptcy  for  time  and  for  eternity." 


Oh,  for  this  love,  let  rocks  and  hills 
Their  lasting  silence  break, 

And  all  harmonions,  human  tongues, 
The  Saviour's  praises  speak  ! " 


THE    PASSIONATE    PILGRIM.  193 

To  quote  Pope's  lines  on  a  secular  love,  as  they  have  been 
altered  by  Dr.  Marsh  in  just  one  word : 

"  Not  bubbling  waters  to  the  thirsty  swain, 
Not  rest  to  weary  travellers  faint  with  pain, 
Not  showers  to  larks,  nor  sunshine  to  the  bee. 
Are  half  so  precious  as  Thy  love  to  me, 

My  Saviour  !  "  ^ 

What  else  does  she  say?  "  Whither  thou  goest,  I  will 
go  ;  where  thou  lodgest,  I  will  lodge  :  thy  people  shall 
be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my  God."  That  is  splendid — 
the  absolute  identity  of  the  two  of  them  :  "  Naomi,  Naomi, 
woman,  I  will  dog  you  like  your  shadow.  Wherever  you 
are,  depend  upon  it,  I  will  be  round  about  there  somewhere, 
in  life  or  in  death."  Did  not  some  of  us  gather  in  a 
certain  church  last  Thursday  at  a  quarter  past  two  ?  Did 
we  not  see  our  brother  stand  here  ?  Did  we  not  see  the 
woman  of  his  choice  standing  beside  him  ?  Did  we  not 
hear  the  words  that  he  took  her,  and  she  took  him,  "  From 
this  day  forward,  to  have  and  to  hold,  for  richer  or  poorer, 
for  sickness  and  health,  to  love,  to  cherish,  to  honour  and 
obey  "  ?  Shall  man  for  woman  and  woman  for  man  so  lose 
each  in  the  other;  and  shall  it  be  called  "rush,"  and 
"gush,"  and  "rhapsody,"  and  "  rodomontade,"  if  I  claim 
that  the  same  thing  should  be  in  our  hearts  for  Him  who  is 
"  the  chief  est  among  ten  thousand  and  the  altogether 
lovely  "  ?  No ;  I  should  turn  round  upon  you,  and  I  should 
break  out  with  God-given  severity  both  upon  you  and  upon 
myself,  only  my  heart  is  too  cold  to  let  me.  She  said, 
*  Where  thou  lodgest,  I  will  lodge."     It  is  coming  almost  a 


194  THE    PASSIONATE    PILGIilM, 

little  down  ;  but  let  us  come  down.  Understand,  my  friend, 
that  if  you  give  your  heart  to  Christ,  you  will  content  your- 
self for  this  world  to  be,  like  Him,  a  wayfarer.  He  does  not 
dwell  here.  This  is  not  His  rest ;  this  is  not  His  home. 
The  hope  of  Israel  and  the  Saviour  thereof  in  all  its  troubles 
is  a  wayfaring  man.  He  is  a  sojourner  who  turns  aside  but 
to  tarry  for  a  night.  Understand  that  this  Saviour  belongs 
to  heaven,  belongs  to  eternity,  and  that  if  you  give  your 
heart  to  Him  you  have  to  let  this  world  go,  with  all  its 
seeming  wealth,  and  all  its  ambition,  and  all  its  pomp,  and 
all  its  vanity. 

These  two  widowed  women  travelled  across  from  Moab 
to  Israel — two  lonely  women  who  were  all  in  all  to  each 
other.  "  Who  is  this  that  goeth  up  through  the  wilderness, 
leaning  upon  the  arm  of  her  beloved?  "  What  a  picture  of 
Christ  and  His  people — Naomi  and  Kuth  travelling  together 
from  Moab  to  Bethlehem  in  the  Land  of  Promise.  So  with 
us.  Since  w^e  have  seen  Christ  the  world  has  changed  to 
us,  and,  thank  God.  we  do  not  care  for  it.  Since  we  have 
seen  Christ,  and  have  become  enamoured  of  Him,  we  can 
let  the  world  go  by,  for 

* '  All,  the  Master  is  so  fair  ! 

His  smile  so  sweet  on  banished  men, 
That  they  who  meet  Him  unaware, 
Can  never  rest  on  earth  again. 

"And  they  who  see  Him  risen  afar, 

On  God's  right  hand,  to  welcome  them, 
Forgetful  stand  of  home  and  land. 
Desiring  fair  Jerusalem." 

Is  that  true  ?    Has  the  love  of  Christ  weaned  you  from  the 
world  ?     And,  for  Christ's  dear  sake,  in  order  to  make  Him 


THE    PASSIONATE    PILGRIM.  195 

your  portion,  and  His  inheritance  your  inheritance,  have 
you  become  like  a  tramp  as  regards  any  settled  portion  here 
in  this  world  ?  Ah  !  then  you  are  on  the  right  road. 
"  Where  thou  goest,  I  will  go ;  where  thou  lodgest,  I  will 
lodge." 

"Our  Lord  is  now  rejected, 

And  by  the  world  disowned, 
By  the  many  still  neglected, 
And  by  the  few  enthroned. 
But  soon  He'll  come  in  glory  ; 

The  hour  is  drawing  nigh, 
For  the  crowning  day  is  coming, 
By-and-bye." 

Ah !  then  we  shall  see  the  splendid  choice  we  made  when 
we  turned  our  back  upon  the  world  and  upon  self,  and  all 
its  gilt  and  its  smiles,  and  it  will  be  seen  that,  notwith- 
standing, the  unlikeliness  and  the  littleness  of  any  hope 
and  prospect — the  kind  of  phantomness  and  shadowiness  of 
faith  in  one  whom  we  had  never  seen — ^we  clasped  heaven 
and  earth,  when,  with  faith  in  our  hearts,  we  gave  our- 
selves to  Jesus. 

Would  that  I  could  argue  with  some  of  you  who  are 
**  halting  between  two  opinions."  As  to  Orpah,  what  do  you 
know  about  Orpah  ?  Are  you  going  to  play  the  Orpah  ?  Are 
you  going  to  say  to  Jesus,  *'It  is  all  true,  but  I  do  not  see  that  I 
am  called  this  way.  You  see,  preacher,  I  am  not  going  to  be 
a  sceptic.  I  am  not  going  to  denounce  Jesus  any  more  than 
Orpah  denounced  or  renounced  Naomi ;  but  my  heart  lies 
the  other  way.  My  face  is  that  way ;  my  drawings  are 
that  way  ;  and  I  can  go  my  own  road.  I  hope  that  it  will 
fare  all  well  with  Kuth  ;  and  I  hope  that  it  will  fare  all 


196  THE    PASSIONATE    PILGRIM. 

well  with  myself  too  "  ?  What  do  you  know  ahout  Orpah? 
I  think  I  see  her  going  along  and  drying  her  eyes — for 
these  eyes  will  dry  ;  and  there  she  goes  along  and  see  that 
old  woman  and  that  young  one  lying  on  each  other's  neck ; 
and  she  smiles  a  little,  for  very  likely  she  had  often  seen 
them  foolishly  fond.  And  she  still  sauntered  on,  and  on, 
and  on,  and  then  she  looked  round  again,  and  they  were  gone. 
And  she  said  to  herself,  •*  Oh,  Euth  will  be  back  to-night. 
She  could  not  just  leave  Naomi  on  the  road  so  soon,  and  so 
she  will  go  on  another  mile  or  two."  Maybe  Euth  and 
Orpah  lived  together.  They  had  had  a  common  joy  and  a 
common  sorrow.  They  aad  both  lost  a  husband,  and  those 
husbands  were  brotherk  And,  maybe,  Orpah  sat  up  late 
that  night,  and  opened  the  door,  and  went  out  and 
wondered.  But  Euth  never  came  that  night,  and  she 
did  not  come  the  next  day,  and  she  did  not  come  the  next 
week,  and  she  never  came  back. 

"And,  Euth,"  you  say,  "well,  what  did  Euth  get?" 
Why,  she  got  everything  for  this  world  as  well  as  for  the 
next,  by  making  common  cause  and  destiny  with  this 
withered  widow.  There  are  different  ways  of  coming  to 
fortune.  You  may  inherit  it,  or  you  may  achieve  it,  or 
you  may  come  to  it  as  Euth  did.  Like  her,  although  at 
first  only  a  poor  gleaner,  you  may  marry  the  Laird  f  And 
that  is  the  way,  the  only  way,  to  the  true  possession.  Faith 
marries  us  to  the  Lord  of  all.  You  know  the  tale.  Never 
was  a  more  wonderful  story  sung  by  any  poet  of  love. 
You  know  how  she  went  out  into  the  fields.  No  maiden 
in  the  church   to-night   could  be  wooed   and   won  more 


THE    PASSIONATE    PILGRIM.  197 

honourably  than  was  Euth,  although  the  wooing  was 
scarcely  after  our  Western  fashions.  And  you  know  how 
she  married,  and  you  know  whom  she  married ;  so  that  if 
you  go  away  back  to  the  first  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of 
Matthew,  and  if  you  try  there  to  trace  the  genealogy  of 
the  greatest  Man  who  ever  appeared  in  the  tide  of  time, 
the  Son  of  Mary,  and  the  reputed  Son  of  Joseph — if  you 
trace  back,  and  back,  and  back,  you  will  read  that  he 
was  the  son  of  this  one,  and  the  son  of  that  one,  and  the 
son  of  the  other  one,  and  eventually  you  come  back  to 
Euth,  the  Moabitess.  Euth's  blood  was  in  Christ's  veins. 
Euth  gained  that  magnificent  title  and  degree,  an  ancestress 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  Christ  of  God,  the  King  of  Israel, 
and  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  That  is  what  came  her  way 
— that  name,  that  fame,  and  that  bliss  for  time  and  for 
eternity.  That  is  coming,  man.  Oh,  turn  your  back  on 
the  world  !  Look  upon  the  world  as  the  seductive  temptress 
that  the  Bible  always  represents  it  to  be,  and  although 
religion  may  seem  to  be,  on  the  surface,  a  little  grim,  and  not 
very  sweetly  visaged,  and  not  very  fair,  and  not  very  seduc- 
tive, that  aspect  of  it  is  all  on  the  outside.  The  kernel,  the 
inside,  is  sweet,  and  fair,  and  unspeakably  rich,  and  precious, 
and  desirable ;  whereas  the  world,  though  I  grant  that  it  is 
ofttimes  fair  on  the  outside,  is  like  the  apples  of  Sodom. 
When  you  put  your  teeth  into  it  it  turns  to  ashes  in 
your  mouth.  Now,  will  we  be  like  Euth?  Take  Christ. 
Take  Him  to-day,  and  let  us  understand  what  we  are 
doing.  Man,  it  is  love  that  your  heart  is  needing.  Think 
of  yourself  to-night,  you  young  fellow,  with  all  your  dreams 


198  THE    PASSIONATE    PILGRIM. 

and  all  your  ambitions  :  think  of  yourself  to-night,  when 
you  climb  up  all  those  stairs  into  your  lonely  lodging. 
What  is  it  you  need?  Suppose  you  had  all  the  wealth 
of  the  Bank  of  England,  you  lonely  people,  what  could 
money  do  to  cure  loneliness  ?  What  could  rank  and  titles 
do  to  feed  the  famine  of  the  heart  ?  The  famine  in  the  heart  is 
a  famine  for  love,  for  sympathy,  f or  "  a  friend  who  sticketh 
closer  than  a  brother,"  and  that  is  what  draws  us  to  Christ. 
We  can  go  home  to-night  to  an  empty  house  :  father  dead, 
mother  gone,  every  human  friend  departed,  no  money,  it 
may  be  an  empty  cupboard  and  an  empty  grate,  neither 
food,  nor  light,  nor  fire ;  but  only  allow  me  to  go  home 
to  my  lonely  house  and  see  my  Saviour,  and  I  would 
not  change  with  a  millionaire. 

* '  My  Jesus,  I  love  Thee  ;  I  know  Thou  art  mine. 
For  Thee  all  the  pleasures  of  sin  I  resign. 
My  gracious  Redeemer,  my  Saviour  art  Thou, 
If  ever  I  love  Thee,  my  Saviour,  'tis  now." 

He  is  rich  beyond  all  telling,  who  can  say,  ''My  God,  my 
God, 

The  King  of  love  my  Shepherd  is." 

Now,  are  you  content  to  trudge  along,  sure  of  it  that  all 
that  is  worth  having  lies  that  road — everything  as  it  came 
to  Euth  ?  Could  she  ever  have  dreamt  what  was  coming  to 
her?  "Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have 
entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  in 
store  for  them  that  love  Him ;  but  God  hath  revealed  them 
to  us  by  His  Holy  Spirit."  The  fortune,  the  heavenly 
riches,  lie  this  seemingly  empty  and  barren  way.  The  dis- 
appointment, deep,  and  bitter,  and  eternal,  lies  the  way 
of  the  world.     You  have  heard  about  that  old  '*  Methody 


THE    PASSIONATE    PILGRIM.  ]  9^ 

preacher,"  a  lonely  old  man,  who  spent  his  days  as  a 
Primitive  Methodist  preacher.  And  when  he  came  near  to  the 
end  of  his  days,  some  kind  wealthy  brother  thought  that  he 
would  make  provision  for  him,  and  he  bought  him  a  little 
house.  All  his  days  previously  he  had  only  been  a  lodger, 
travelling  about  from  place  to  place,  and  taking  the  people's 
hospitality  for  a  night ;  but  now  that  he  had  come  to  old  age, 
the  gentleman  bought  him  a  house,  and  made  him  a  present 
of  it,  with  as  much  as  would  keep  him.  He  tried  it  for  a 
while,  and  then  he  came  back  to  the  man  who  had  given 
him  the  gift,  and  said,  "  It  will  not  do.  I  am  not  contented. 
I  do  not  like  this  way  of  living.  There  is  too  much  in  it. 
I  never  had  this  before,  and  I  do  not  take  well  to  it.  There 
is  a  hymn  which  I  used  to  sing,  which  drew  out  my  whole 
heart  to  my  Master,  and  to  the  portion  that  is  waiting  for 
me  ;  and  I  have  lost  relish  for  that  hymn  since  I  have  taken 
the  gift  of  this  house."  You  remember  what  the  hymn 
was  with  which  he  had  cheered  himself : 

"  Ho  foot  of  land  do  I  possess, 
No  cottage  in  this  wilderness ; 
A  poor  wayfaring  man, 
I  lodge  awhile  in  tents  below, 
Or  gladly  wander  to  and  fro, 
Till  I  my  Canaan  gain. 
There  is  my  house  and  portion  fair  ; 
My  treasure  and  my  heart  are  there, 
And  my  abiding  home." 

And  in  order  to  sing  that  hymn  with  the  old  sweetness,  he 
gave  up  the  house  and  took  to  the  tramp  again.  Well,  I 
do  not  say  anything  about  his  conduct.  Maybe,  I  would 
not  have  done  it ;  and,  maybe,  he  might  have  held  the 
house  and  the  hymn  too.  But  the  man  himself  must  be 
allowed  to  be  the  judge.     There  is  a  grand  idea  in  it.     If 


200  THE    PASSIONATE    PILGRIM. 

we  have  got  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself  into  our  hearts, 
then  our  bread  is  baked,  and  it  is  buttered  on  both  sides  ; 
and  that  is  the  end  of  it.  What  more  could  you  have  than 
Him  who  is  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  of  earth  ?  Take  Him 
to-night.  As  I  said  at  the  beginning,  so  I  say  again.  Take 
Him,  not  of  constraint,  but  willingly.  I  had  almost  said, 
"  Assume  the  virtue  of  heartiness,  if  you  do  not  possess  it "; 
and,  not  coldly  and  drily,  but  warmly  and  heartily,  take 
Him  by  the  hand,  and  say,  "  My  Saviour,  my  Jesus ! 
Christ,  God,  holiness,  heaven  for  me  !  Heaven  for  me  !  " 
Be  sure  of  this,  that  it  is  no  vain  thing. 

May  God  decide  us   with  an  irrevocable   decision  for 
Christ  to-night  1    Amen. 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


Regent  §qmu  ful^jit. 


"WHAT  AILETH   THEE,  HAGAE?" 


%  Sermon 

Preached  on  Sunday  Morning,  February  2nd,  1891. 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL 


Text — Genesis  xxi.  17,  19. 

"  What  aileth  thee,  Hagar?  "  said  the  Voice  out  of  heaven, 
suggesting  to  us  how  near,  after  all,  are  heaven  and  earth 
— holy,  happy,  helpful  heaven,  and  parched,  withered, 
wilderness  earth.  Notice  the  scene.  A  dusky  woman,  an 
Egyptian,  dark  of  skin,  and  darker  of  heart  at  this  moment, 
sitting  in  loneliness  and  bitterness.  A  bow-shot  off,  a  young 
lad.  At  first  he  was  all  the  hope,  but  now  he  is  all  the 
trouble.  Utterly  spent  with  the  heaviness  of  the  way,  he 
has  been  cast  under  a  shrub,  that  his  mother  may  not  see 
him  die.  Nothing  all  round  about  but  sand,  and  barren 
scrub,  and  beaking  rocks,  reflecting  and  beating  down  more 
keenly  the  fierce  heat  of  the  sun.  A  great,  over-arching, 
empty  heaven  ;  if  anything  to  be  seen,  away  yonder  in  th, 
distance  a  black  speck  or  two,  which  by-and-bye  will  turn 
out  to  be  the  swift  wings,  gleaming  eyes,  and  sharpened 
beaks  of  the  vulture  j  hastening  to  their  prey.  Many 
Vol.  III.— No.  14. 


202  "WHAT  AILETH   THEE,    HAGAR  ?  "  ' 

a  time  they  have  got  a  meal  here.  From  afar  they 
scent  the  feast,  and  are  just  beginning  to  darken  the 
sky.  And  there — oh,  wonder  of  wonders! — it  is  writ, 
there  heaven  is  near,  there  God  is,  there  salvation  is, 
there  the  voice  of  promise,  and  hope,  and  revival.  It  is  a 
wonderful  scene,  well  worth  our  bending  over  and  looking 
into.  It  is  an  old  story,  and  comes  out  of  a  far-off  time, 
and  out  of  ways  which  to  us  are  strange  and  awkward,  and 
rather  turn  us  away  from  the  contemplation.  But  oh, 
the  heart  of  it !  the  trouble,  the  misery,  the  death  begun, 
suddenly  broken  and  banished  by  Heaven,  and  the  Voice 
from  heaven,  and  the  opened  eye,  and  the  bubbling  spring : 
these  endure  from  age  to  age. 

Concerning  thee,  O  my  hearer,  may  this  tale  be  told. 

"  And  the  angel  of  God  called  to  Hagar  out  of  heaven, 
and  said  unto  her,  What  aileth  thee,  Hagar  ?  "  What  she 
said  is  not  told  or  reported — I  almost  think,  because  it 
would  not  bear  reporting.  For  Hagar  had  a  good  case ;  and 
when  a  women  has  a  good  case,  as  Hagar  had,  it  is  apt  to 
lose  nothing  in  the  telling.  She  could  have  told  it  well, 
stingingly.  Abraham's  ears  away  off  in  his  distant  tent, 
and  Sarah's  too,  might  well  have  tingled,  had  Hagar  risen 
dp  at  God's  question  to  tell  the  story  of  what  ailed  her.  On 
the  surface,  at  any  rate,  she  had  been  badly  used,  hadn't 
she  ?  And  that  is  where  I  want  to  get  into  sympathy,  and 
to  come  to  practical  exposition.  "What  aileth  thee,  Hagar?  " 
My  friend,  Heaven  knows  you ;  HeaViSn  knows  your  name. 
Precisely  who  you  are,  where  you  are,  the  whole  centre  and 
circumference  of  your  trouble  is  known  where  you  are  apt  to 


"  WHAT    AILETH    THEE,    HAGAK  ?  "  203 

think  it  is  absolutely  forgotten.  Not  in  Abraham's  tent,  not 
with  him  or  Sarah,  is  your  help  to  be  found.  But  the  sad  thing 
is  that  your  heart  will  continually  hark  away  back  there, 
and  refuse  to  believe  that  that  chapter  is  finished.  Dear 
soul,  the  sooner  you  can  take  your  heart  out  of  the  past,  the 
better.  The  sooner  you  can  forget  the  things  that  are 
behind,  and  the  sooner  you  can  reach  forth  to  those  that 
are  before,  the  better — infinitely  the  better — for  you.  What 
aileth  thee,  my  downcast  friend  ?  You  can  rise  up  and 
pour  out  your  story  at  every  pore ;  not  only  at  the  mouth, 
but  the  eyes  would  fill,  and  the  whole  nature  would  over- 
flow. You  are  big  with  the  story  of  your  sufferings,  and 
indignities,  and  cruel  wrongs.  Hagar,  I  think  I  see  her  in 
answer  to  the  question,  "  What  aileth  thee  ?  "  She  stands 
up  and  says,  "  I  am  an  Egyptian,  a  bondwoman.  I  came 
into  contact  with  the  household  of  Abraham,  and  was 
taken  into  his  service.  A  strange  household,  I  soon  found. 
Their  God  had  spoken  a  word  of  promise  that  did  not  seem 
to  be  fulfilled :  a  son  was  to  come.  Master  and  mistress 
were  old,  and  seemingly  past  hope.  They  waited  and 
waited,  and  then  my  mistress  herself  devised  a  plan  of  her 
own.  Abraham  fell  in  with  it,  and  I — I  was  but  a  bond- 
woman, what  could  I  do  but  yield  ?  A  son  was  born  to 
Abraham  and  me,  and  I  thought  he  was  to  be  their  long- 
expected  Hope  and  Joy.  But  as  he  lived  and  throve,  a 
shadow  came  over  my  brightness.  I  saw  their  hearts  were 
not  satisfied.  They  had  gone  aside  from  God,  even  when 
they  thought  they  were  fulfilling  His  purpose.  And  another 
son  has  come,  and  they  call  him  Isaac — Laughter  ;  and  I  " 


204  "WHAT   AILETH   THEE,    HAGAR  ?  " 

— and  her  fists  clenched,  and  her  eyes  burned  like  coals — 
"  I,  not  to  blame  ;  I,  the  poor  bondwoman  ;  first  they  used 
me,  and  then  they  abused  me.  Putting  a  bottle  of  water 
on  my  shoulder,  and  some  bread  and  fruit  in  my  hands  ;  I 
and  my  son  turned  off,  bundled  out,  to  live  or  die,  as  the 
chapter  of  accidents  may  determine."  On  the  surface,  I 
say,  she  seems  to  be  able  to  rise  up  and  tell  a  doleful  tale. 
"  Well  may  I  weep  ;  well  may  I  beat  my  breast ;  well  may 
I  be  angry  and  indignant,  and  say  words  of  sharpness  and 
bitterness  about  everything  and  everybody.  Was  ever  life 
wrecked  like  mine  ?  Were  ever  hopes  so  cruelly  falsified  as 
mine  ?  Lifted  so  high,  and  now  plunged  so  low  !  Here  in 
the  desert,  faint,  parched,  dying,  no  eye  looking  at  me  save 
the  eyes  of  the  coming  vultures." 

**  What  aileth  thee,  Hagar?  "  I  put  the  question  to  you, 
and  as  I  put  it,  my  hearer.  I  am  especially  speaking  to 
those  whose  hearts  are  neavy.  For  it  is  the  same  world 
yet,  and  it  is  awfully  ill-balanced,  and  there  are  things  that 
happen  to  some  of  us  that  will  make  us  fly  to  extremities, 
and  say,  "  This  world  was  made  for  Caesar.  It  is  a  world 
in  which  the  weakest  go  to  the  wall,  and  might  is  right, 
let  the  preachers  say  what  they  please.  I  have  found 
it,"  you  say,  in  the  bitterness  of  your  spirit.  "  Don't  talk 
to  me  about  lights  to  dark  clouds.  I  never  saw  them. 
Where  is  the  light  to  my  dark  clouds  ?  Where  is  the  star, 
the  one  star  that  specks  the  blackness  that  overarches  me  ?  " 
My  friend,  I  want  to  say  this,  and  in  God's  name  too.  In 
answer  to  God's  question,  "  What  ails  thee  ?  "  tell  it — let 
it   out.      Our   living   God   is   so   loving,    and   tender,    and 


"WHAT    AILETH    THEE,    HAGAR  ?  "  205 

patient,  and  kind.  He  puts  the  question  to  get  a  reply.  Just 
tell  Him ;  don't  be  dumb  or  silent.  Something  has 
happened  you,  which,  Hke  a  blast  of  wind  on  a  vessel, 
staggers  her,  flings  her  over  on  her  beam-ends,  and  almost 
makes  her  careen  and  go  to  the  bottom.  Then,  tell 
God ;  unpack  you  heart  with  words.  Expostulate  if  you 
like ;  tell  Him  it's  awful ;  tell  Him  it's  wrong ;  that 
justice  and  judgment  have  left  the  earth,  and  you  are 
the  dismal  proof  therof .  Anything  but  silence ;  anything 
but  dumb,  desolate,  inkept  grief;  anything  but  nursing 
and  brooding  your  sorrows  all  to  yourself;  anything  but 
pitching  this  in  this  corner,  and  pitching  the  other  in  the 
other  corner,  and  going  to  the  third  corner  yourself  to 
moan,  and  groan,  and  die.  Don't  die ;  fly  in  the  face  of 
heaven,  if  you  like,  but  "  dinna  dee,"  don't  die.  I  would 
not  die  if  I  were  you.  Never  say  die,  while  God's  voice, 
out  of  heaven,  asks  so  humanly  the  story  of  your  wrongs. 

"  What  aileth  thee,  Hagar?  "  Oh,  to  us  who  know  it  all 
now,  what  a  beginning  of  salvation  is  in  the  very  question  ! 
I  cannot  get  over  that — that  my  name  is  known,  your  name. 
Where  is  your  name,  and  number,  and  street,  and  address  ? 
The  postman  could  not  find  it.  Your  friends  have  been 
writing  to  you  for  weeks,  some  of  them  for  years,  and  they 
cannot  understand  what  is  the  matter,  for  there  is  no  finding 
you.  When  you  get  lost  in  London  you  cannot  be  found  ;  the 
letters  are  returned  to  the  Dead-Letter  Office,  scribbled  over 
with  all  manner  of  "  Try  this,  try  that,  try  the  other  place," 
for  there  are  a  dozen  streets  of  that  name  in  London,  and 
you  cannot  be  found  in  any  of  them.     But  what  a  gleam  of 


206  "WHAT   AILETH    THEE,    HAGAB?" 

hope  in  the  darkness  and  loneUness  of  this  howHng  wilder- 
ness, the  angel  of  God  calling  out  of  heaven,  naming  you  by 
name,  sending  a  message  that  reaches  your  own  very  ear 
and  speaks  into  your  own  desolate  heart.  It  is  for  you. 
Don*t  try  to  read  it  through  the  envelope,  but  take  off  the 
envelope,  and  take  out  the  message  and  read  it  plain  and 
clear.  "O,  thou  afflicted,  tossed  with  tempest,  and  not 
comforted,  I  have  a  message  from  God  unto  thee." 

And  I  think  there  is  another  thought  to  help  us.  We 
might  not  only  expect  from  Hagar  a  natural,  justifiable  out- 
burst of  vehement  speech,  dictated  by  a  burning  sense  of 
injustice ;  I  not  only  speak  to  that  and  evoke  that,  but  I 
want  to  go  a  little  deeper.  My  friends,  especially  those 
who  are  in  sorrow  and  heaviness,  those  with  whom  even 
Providence  seems  to  be  playing  a  game  of  contraries  and 
cross-purposes,  it  is  not  so  ;  look  a  little  deeper.  There  is  a 
"  need  be  "  in  this.  Is  not  there  to  be  a  great  use  made  of 
the  burning  sand  and  the  threatened  death  ?  Hagar,  that 
that  you  dreamed  about,  you  had  better  give  it  up.  It  can 
never  he.  Hagar,  the  empty  water-bottle  and  the  burning 
sand  are  a  grand  cure  for  vain  ambition.  Hagar,  it  is  not 
to  be.  You  thought  that  your  son  was  to  take  what  Sarah's 
son  is  to  take  ;  and  God  is  behind  Isaac.  True,  you  have 
been  more  sinned  against  than  sinning,  but  it  cannot  be, 
and  the  sooner  you  get  over  it  the  better,  and  turn  your 
eyes  to  a  new  direction.  How  many  people  to-day  need  to 
have  their  eyes  turned  away  from  a  certain  direction  to- 
wards God  and  God's  purpose.  Cease,  vain  regrets,  cease 
moping  and  crying  over  spilt  milk.    Cease  losing  your  way ; 


"what  aileth  thee,  hagar?**  207 

pull  yourself  to  your  feet,  and  go  on  through  the  burning 
sand,  for  God  is  with  you.  He  who  opens  rivers  in  dry 
places,  who  makes  crooked  things  straight,  who  makea 
darkness  light  before  us,  He  is  the  God  of  Hagar  and 
Ishmael,  as  well  as  of  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Sarah. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to  get  over  ambitions  once  they  get 
in.     Kemember  the  word  that  God  spake  to  Baruch  in  the 
45th  chapter  of  Jeremiah  :  "  Seekest  thou  great  things  for 
thyself?     Seek  them  not.     The  Lord  saith  thus."     Do  not 
fly  against  the  Master,  do  not  beat  yourself  against  the 
bars  of  a  cage.     God  has  you  in  His  hands,  God  has  you 
in  His  keeping.     He  will  justify  Himself  in  all  His  dealing 
with  you  that  now  seems  so  bitter  and  harsh.    But  you  must 
give  up  your  own  ambitions,  your  own  thoughts,  your  own 
plans ;  and,  broken  and  defeated,  empty  and  soured,  and 
embittered  and  disgusted,  and  all  as  you  ^xq,  falliiito  the 
everlasting  arms.     What  a  gospel  that  would  be  to  some  of 
us  to-day!      What  a  gospel  to  some  of  us,  for  we  are 
disgusted.     What  a  gospel,  for  we  are  bitter,  for  we  are 
sour,  we  are  jaundiced,  we  are  bilious,  we  are  atrabilious. 
We  are  clean  sick  of  the  whole  thing,  life  is  gone,  "  tapsel- 
teerie."     There  is  neither  beginning,  nor  middle,  nor  end 
to  it,   like   a  hank  of   yarn   that   we  began  to  unwind, 
and  it  has  run  into  knots  continually.      Now,  the  cure 
is,    the   desert,   the   barrenness,    the   nothingness ;   as   we 
read   in   the   Book   of    Lamentations,   "He  hath   builded 
against  me ;  .  .  .  He  hath  hedged  me  about  that  I  cannot 
get  out ;  .  .  .  He  hath  inclosed  my  ways  with  hewn  stone." 
Thus  God  gets  us,  He  brings  us  to  an  end  of  our  own  way 


208  "WHAT    AILETH    THEE,    HAGAR  ? 

that  He  may  bring  us  to  the  begmnmg  of  His.  It  was  a 
good  thing  for  Ishmael  also.  Ishmael  needed  this ;  Ishmael 
was  not  just  a  babe ;  Ishmael  was  come  to  sixteen  or  seven- 
teen years  of  age.  And  I  have  no  doubt  his  mother  had  done 
her  best  to  spoil  him.  She  had  put  into  him  her  ow4i  hopes, 
and  her  own  dreams,  and  her  own  ambitions,  and  just  as 
our  children  will  do,  he  had  bettered  the  lesson.  He  got 
fairly  intoxicated  with  conceit,  with  dignities,  with  swelling 
pride,  and  thoughts  of  vanity.  Young  and  all  as  he  was, 
he  had  notions  of  what  he  was  to  be.  And  he  began  to 
scoff  and  despise  young  Isaac,  the  child  of  hope  and 
promise ;  he  that  was  born  of  the  flesh,  and  of  the  will  of 
the  flesh,  began  to  persecute  the  seed  of  promise.  That 
could  not  be,  and  the  desert,  and  the  leanness,  and  the 
emptiness  are  a  grand  cure  for  that  also.  Ishmael,  I  want 
to  speak  to  you  as  well  as  to  your  mother.  The  Lord 
hears  your  voice  this  morning  where  you  are,  you  too 
smarting,  you  too  saying  at  twenty  years  of  age,  "  Life's  a 
failure;  all  things  have  gone  to  the  dogs."  **The  Lord 
heard  the  voice  of  the  lad."  I  cannot  just  say  it  was  a 
voice  of  prayer.  Whatever  the  voice  said  was  reported 
no  more  than  his  mother's  voice,  for  I  do  not  think  it 
would  report  either.  The  blessed  thing  to  notice,  my 
young  wild-headed,  strong,  hot-blooded  friend,  is  that 
God  loves  you.  You  went  home  the  other  day  from 
the  office  "  just  mad " — and  I  am  not  speaking  exactly 
to  youth,  but  to  those  who  are  double  Ishmael's  years — 
you  went  home  mad.  You  had  got  a  stinging  blow  to  your 
ambitions  right  between  the  eyes  ;  all  your  rosy  prospects 


"WHAT   AILETH    THEE,    HAGAR  ?  "  209 

gone ;    the  light  that   guided   you  and  led   you  suddenly 
disappeared,  and  darkness  and  tempest  round  about  you. 
And  you  flung  yourself  down  on  your  bed  yonder,  in  your 
lodgings,  or  in  your  own  home,  and  you  could  have  cried 
out,  but  for  alarming  the  house,  with  vexation  and  rage. 
Now,  I  don't  go  into  the  question  whether  "  the  governor  " 
was  right  or  wrong  in  what  he  did  to  you.     Only,  to  please 
you,  we'll  say  he  was  wrong.     My  governors,  in  such  cases, 
always  were,  in  my  opinion.      But,  look  iip,  Ishmael !  God 
hears  your  angry,  protesting  soul.     I  tell  you  He  would 
rather  hear  that,  my  friend,  than  that  dumb,  dour,  dogged 
silence,  or  that  smug,  sleek  self-complacency  that  neither 
sings  nor  prays,  that  never  sobs  or  storms — it  could  not, 
there  is  nothing  to  sob  over.     It  thanks  its  own  wee  self, 
and  sucks  its  own  little  sticks  of  candy,  and  licks  its  own 
little  fingers.     God  would  rather  have  these,  a  mad  woman 
and  a  madder  boy,  lying  there,  spreading  their  case,  so  to 
speak,  in  all  its  extent,  right  under  His  holy  eye,  with  their 
hearts  charged  and  surcharged  to  bursting.      God  would 
rather  have   that   than  what   I  have  described.       Am   I 
speaking  to  any  Ishmael?    I  say  to  you  what  I  said  to 
Hagar.     Speak  out ;  go  and  tell  God,  tell  Jesus,  let  Heaven 
know  who  you  are  and  where  you  are,  and  that  trouble,  a 
sore  trouble,  has  come  to  you.     Only  learn  this,  learn  this, 
all  of  us  :  that  God  has  His  own  ways,  and  just  because 
He  loves  us  and  will  love  us.  He  allures  us  and  brings  us 
into  the  wilderness.     He  likes  to  get  us  alone  with  Himself; 
and  there,  when  the  first  tempest  and  passion  of  our  grief 
and  bitterness  is  emptied  out,  then  He  will  come  and  speak 


210  "WHAT   AILETH   THEE,    HAGAR  ?  " 

comfortably  to  us.  When  He  has  weakened  our  strength 
in  the  way,  and  seemingly  shortened  our  days  of  life,  then 
He  will  revive  us,  and  bring  us  from  the  dust  and  from  the 
opening  grave,  and  give  us  length  of  days  and  prosperity  to 
fill  our  wildest  wish.  Back  of  all  that  is  inexplicable  is 
God  ;  and  God  is  His  own  interpreter.  Wordsworth 
interprets  Him  very  well  when  he  exhorts  us  to  believe 
that  "one  adequate  support  for  the  calamities  of  mortal 
life,  one  only,  exists :  an  assured  belief  that  the  procession 
of  our  fate,  however  disturbed,  is  ordered  by  a  Being  whose 
everlasting  purposes  embrace  all  accidents,  converting  them 
to  good."  But  Paul  is  plainer  and  profounder  still :  "  We 
know  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God,  to  them  that  are  the  called  according  to  His 
purpose." 

Is  it  a  gospel  ?  Is  it  a  gospel  ?  And  I  think  I  see  white 
heads  and  old  withered  faces  beginning  to  fill  with  the  sun- 
light of  heaven,  and  saying,  "  Yes,  preacher,  I  could  tell  you 
about  that.  I  went  out  full,  and  the  Lord  brought  me  to 
emptiness.  Yes,  preacher,  I  remember,  I  could  tell  this 
audience  my  story.  Oh,  the  queen  that  I  was  to  be  !  Oh, 
the  life  I  that  was  to  live  !  And  it  seemed  just  to  be  within  my 
grasp,  and  there  came  a  crossing,  and  vexing,  and  scattering 
of  it  all.  And  I  did  not  die ;  I  lived.  That  was  my  won- 
derful year ;  that  is  the  day  to  which  I  look  back.  I  began 
then  to  know  as  never  before  that  God's  ways  are  clean 
away  up  out  of  sight.  There  is  "nae  kenning"  them. 
You  have  to  trust  Him,  just  to  trust  Him,  in  the  blackest 
night  you  have  to  trust  Him,  to  wait  for  Him,  to  bear  the 
yoke  in  your  youth.  You  may  kick  and  chafe  like  a 
bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke,  but  God  will  show  you 
your  folly,  and  take  all  the  kick  out  of  you,  and  teach  you 


"  WHAT    AILETH    THEE,    HAGAR  ?  "  211 

at  last  to  "  take  My  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me ;  for  My 
yoke  is  easy,  and  My  burden  light,  and  ye  shall  find  rest 
unto  your  soul." 

"  What  aileth  thee,  Hagar  ?  fear  not ;  for  God  hath 
heard  the  voice  of  the  lad  where  he  is.  Arise,  lift  up  the 
lad,  and  hold  him  in  thine  hand;  for  I  will  make  him  a 
great  nation."  A  word  of  promise.  Thank  God,  my 
friends,  again  let  me  say,  remembering  this  word  spoken  in 
the  desert.  Thank  God  for  all  our  defeats,  and  our  thwart- 
ings,  and  our  heart-breaks.  They  are  meant  to  deepen  and 
widen  us.  Ishmael  got  a  rough  rocking,  but  God  was  rock- 
ing a  giant  when  he  rocked  Ishmael  in  this  rough  fashion. 
The  roughing,  it  won't  kill  you ;  the  sharp,  sudden  defeat 
and  seeming  disaster,  why,  it  will  make  a  man  of  you  if  you 
will  only  trust  in  God  and  yield  to  Him.     Do  not  be  afraid. 

*•  Beware  of  desperate  steps  ;  the  darkest  day, 
Live  till  to-morrow,  will  have  passed  away." 

God  can  use  you.  He  will  use  Isaac,  and  carry  on  His  pur- 
poses of  blessing  as  He  promised.  He  will  use  Isaac,  but 
He  can  step  outside  of  that.  The  Lord's  election  is  never  a 
narrow,  bigoted,  spiteful  thing.  He  loved  Isaac,  and  blessed 
Isaac ;  He  loved  Ishmael,  and  He  blessed  Ishmael  too.  "  1 
will  make  of  him  a  great  nation."  The  end  of  that  is  not 
reached  yet.  I  know  no  book  that  is  newer  than  the  old 
Bible.  It  is  later  than  the  last  edition  of  our  evening 
paper.  A  day  is  coming  when  the  sons  of  Isaac  will  start 
off  after  the  sons  of  Ishmael,  and  bring  them  into  the  cove- 
nant. This  world  is  very  young  yet ;  and  they  are  to  come 
from  east  and  west,  from  north  and  south,  to  sit  down  with 
Abraham  and  Isaac  in  the  universal  kingdom  of  grace. 

But  to  return.  If  you  are  getting  something  hard  to 
bear,  remember  God  knows  all  about  it.     Do  not  trouble 


212  "WHAT   AILETH    THEE,    HAGAR  ?  " 

yourself  envying  other  folks,  flying  out  on  Abraham,  and 
Sarah,  and  Isaac,  as  Hagar  might  have  done.  You  know 
what  God  could  have  told  Hagar  to  pacify  her.  You  can 
quite  imagine  God  coming  and  saying,  **  Hagar,  dry  your 
grief,  my  woman.  Dry  your  eyes.  Keep  yourself  more  to 
yourself  and  Me.     Never  mind  Abraham  and  Sarah." 

She  was  rather  a  bit  of  a  dowager  duchess,  was  old 
Sarah,  speaking  with  all  respect  about  her ;  she  was  a 
tyrannical  kind  of  body  when  she  was  wakened  up.  God 
might  have  said,  "  Hagar,  there  is  a  morning  coming  for 
Abraham.  He  had  his  morning  with  you  two  or  three  days 
ago,  when  he  sent  you  off  with  your  lad  away  here  to  the 
wilderness.  Hagar,  My  woman,  the  day  is  coming  when 
with  a  broken  heart  he  will  take  his  own  Isaac  at  My 
command  and  tramp  with  Me  a  road  that  will  bring  his 
strength  into  the  dust  of  death.  Keep  yourself  to  yourself, 
Hagar ;  I  will  look  after  all  that."  He  might  have  said  more : 
**  Hagar,  I  have  not  sent  you  this  road  without  trying  it 
Myself.  Hagar,  there  is  a  day  coming  when  I  will  start 
with  My  Isaac  into  the  desert.  Abraham  will  be  stopped 
before  the  knife  goes  into  his  son,  but  when  I  start  on  My 
day  of  trial,  there  will  be  nobody  to  stop  Me.  The  day  is 
coming  when  I  will  start  with  My  Isaac,  My  Son,  My  only 
Son,  whom  I  have  loved  from  all  eternity.  And  that  will  be 
a  day,  that  will  be  a  day  of  bitterness  and  darkness  such 
as  was  never  seen  or  known  since  time  and  trouble  began, 
nor  ever  again  shall  be."  Now,  God  is  saying  that  to  you 
through  my  lips  to-day.  Do  not  think  that  nobody  was 
treated  as  you  have  been  treated.  Do  not  kill  yourself 
thinking  of  your  injustices  and  hardships.  Eemember 
Abraham,  he  got  his  turn.  Eemember  God,  He  has  gone 
along  that   desert.      **  God   leads   us   through  no   darker 


*'  WHAT    AILETH    THEE,    HAGAR  ?  "  213 

rooms  than  He  went  through  before."  Man,  woman,  lad. 
He  knows  it  all :  the  burning  heat  and  the  barren  sand, 
and  the  scenes  of  desolation  and  emptiness  and  loneliness, 
and  utter  forsakenness.  Eemember  the  cry  which  arose  and 
which  still  rings  through  the  world,  "  My  God,  My  God, 
why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ?  "  Remember  that,  and  hold 
your  peace.  Let  us  take  the  worst  that  comes  and  sing 
about.  "  Our  light  affliction,  but  for  a  moment,  worketh 
for  us  an  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory  ;  while  we 
look  not  at  the  things  that  are  seen." 

And  that  brings  me  on,  for  I  must  be  brief.  "  God  opened 
her  eyes,  and  she  saw  a  well  of  water ;  and  she  went,  and 
filled  the  bottle  with  water,  and  gave  the  lad  drink.  And 
God  was  with  the  lad."  It  is  quite  obvious  to  remark  that 
the  water  was  there.  This  is  not  a  case  like  those  mentioned 
in  the  New  Testament  where  Christ  Jesus  restored  a  faculty 
that  was  withered  and  gone.  This  is  not  a  case  of  giving 
sight  to  physically  blind  eyes.  Hagar's  eyes  were  all  right, 
as  right  as  yours  :  and  that  was  just  the  trouble,  my  friends. 
If  you  would  shut  your  eyes  you  would  see  all  the  better.  If 
you  would  shut  your  eyes  you  would  not  see  the  burning 
sand,  and  the  rocks,  and  the  spreading  vultures.  If  you 
would  shut  your  eyes,  losing  sight  of  these  things,  your  soul 
would  see  God.  The  well  was  there  all  the  time  that 
Ishmael  was  crying.  When  Job  opens  his  mouth  and  curses 
the  day  that  he  was  born — poor  Job  ! — God  is  overshadowing 
him  with  blessing.  There  is  nothing  so  blind  as  grief ;  there  is 
nothing  so  blind  as  a  sense  of  injustice.  Nothing  so  pulls 
down  the  blinds  and  puts  up  the  shutters  and  makes  it  seen, 
dark  at  midday  as  to  be  in  Hagar's  condition  of  soul.  And 
if  you  are  in  that  condition,  my  friends,  I  am  here  to-day 
in  God's  name  to  open  your  eyes — not  these,  but  the  eyes  of 


214  "WHAT   AILETH   THEE,  H AGAR?  " 

the  heart.  Tothinkthat  the  well  was  there,  bubbling,  bursting ! 
for  I  do  not  think  it  was  miraculously  created  for  the 
moment,  for  the  special  occasion.  It  was  there,  had  always 
been  there,  but  just  a  few  yards  short  of  the  well  Hagar 
sank  under  her  burden,  and  she  cast  Ishmael  under  a 
shrub,  for  she  said,  "  Let  me  not  see  the  death  of  the 
lad."  So  we  are  misreading  God.  My  friend,  do  you 
believe  in  God  at  all  ?  Dost  thou  believe  in  God  ?  Then 
do  you  believe  that  God  would  make  a  desert,  and  send 
you  through  that  desert,  and  not  put  wells  of  water  in  it  ? 
That  would  be  a  devil,  not  a  God.  I  come  back,  you  see, 
to  great  fundamental  questions  and  answers.  Hagar,  dost 
thou  believe  in  God  ?  And  I  wait  for  a  reply,  from  my 
own  heart  and  from  yours.  If  there  is  a  God,  then  there 
is  water.  I  do  not  care  a  brass  farthing  for  burning  sands 
and  gathering  vultures  if  God  lives.  Blessed  be  God,  there 
is  water  near.  The  moment  we  believe  in  Him,  trust  in 
Him,  and  listen  to  the  voice  from  heaven,  and  call  in  our 
thoughts  from  the  burning  sand,  and  the  oppression,  and 
the  injustice,  and  harshness,  and  inhumanity,  lo  !  there  is 
our  God  at  our  feet,  ready,  waiting.  She  did  not  need 
new  eyes,  she  needed  a  new  heart,  a  rectified  spirit.  Now, 
Borne  of  us  to-day  cannot  see  for  crying.  Some  of  us 
cannot  see  for  just  Hagar's  bitterness ;  some  of  us  cannot 
hear  for  the  angry  murmuring,  the  howling  of  our  own 
discontented,  disappointed  hearts.  But  when  God  calls 
out  of  heaven,  I  trust  there  will  come  peace,  refreshment, 
revival,  renewal.  "  Fear  not,  Hagar :  'tis  I.  Be  not 
afraid."  Still  God  opens  blind  eyes  by  means  of  words 
of  comfort. 

Oh,  my  hearer,  I  do  not  know  what  state  of  mind  you 
have  come  in  to-day,  but  I  can  preach  this :  the  refresh- 


"WHAT   AILETH    THEE,    HAQAR  ?  "  215 

ment  is  near  you.  You  can  go  out  at  that  door  a  new  man, 
a  new  woman.  You  have  happened  to-day  upon  great 
supplies.  God  could  not  do  more  for  you  than  He  is  here 
at  hand  to  do  for  every  soul  of  us  at  half-past  twelve  this 
morning.  God's  purposes  were  never  riper,  and  life,  in  God's 
plan,  was  never  brighter  than  at  this  tick  of  the  clock  this 
moment.  God  is  not  dead,  as  you  thought  He  was.  God  is 
not  a  liar,  and  we  almost  thought  He  was.  God  is  not  a  lie  ; 
because  Abraham  and  Sarah  disappointed  us  Heaven  has 
helped  us.  The  wells  are  open,  wells  for  the  weary. 
"  Stoop  down  and  drink,  and  live."  Before  you  go  back,  take 
your  empty  leather  bottle  and  fill  it  now.  Go  out  as  full  of 
God  as  your  bottle  will  hold.  Fill  your  bottle  with  the 
refreshing  of  God's  grace,  and  word,  and  promise  in  Jesus 
Christ.  Remember  what  He  says  all  through  our  story,  **  I 
have  heard,"  "  I  have  seen,"  "  I  will  make."  Trust  Him 
whate'er  betide.  It  is  the  explanation  of  all  riddles,  the 
solution  of  all  enigmas.  "  God  lives  ;  blest  be  my  rock,  and 
let  the  God  of  my  salvation  still  be  praised."  Therefore  **I 
will  hope  continually,  and  praise  Thee  more  and  more." 

'Tis  like  the  Well  of  Loch  Maree  in  Whittier's  song,  over 
which  cool  shadows  lie,  and  round  which  are  smooth 
white  stones. 

' '  And  whoso  bathes  therein  his  brow, 
With  care  or  madness  burning, 
Feels  once  again  his  healthful  thought 
And  sense  of  peace  returning. 

*'  O  restless  heart  and  fevered  brain 
Unquiet  and  unstable. 
That  holy  well  of  Loch  Maree 
Is  more  than  idle  fable 

"  Life's  changes  vex,  its  discords  stun 
Its  glaring  simshine  blindetli, 
But  blest  is  he  who  on  his  way 
at  Fount  of  Healing  ftndeth  ! 


216  "WHAT   AILETH   THEE,    HAGAR  ?  " 

"  The  shadows  of  a  humbled  will 
And  contrite  heart  are  o'er  it ; 
Go,  read  its  legend — *  Trust  in  God,* 
On  Faith's  white  stones  before  it." 

And  Ishmael  lives ;  and  he  lives  to  this  day.  And  God 
has  not  done  with  him  any  more  than  with  Isaac.  And  I 
tell  it  to  you  and  to  myself :  God  will  make  us  glad 
according  to  the  days  wherein  He  has  afflicted  us,  and  the 
years  wherein  we  have  seen  evil.  And  that  not  far  off  in 
heaven,  but  the  word  is  nigh  thee,  and  the  well  is  nigh 
thee,  even  at  thy  hand  and  at  thy  side.  I  preach  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  Great  Fountain  in  the  desert.  He 
makes  the  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  for  ever  to  be 
glad.  His  Grace  and  Peace  are  "  for  ever  full,  for  ever 
fresh,  for  ever  flowing  free."  But  where  ?  you  say.  Look, 
dear  soul,  look.  Believe ;  only  believe  Him  who  speaks 
from  heaven.  The  Living  Fountain  is  beside  thee; 
take  thy  empty  leathern  bottle  and  fill  it  to  the  brim. 
Have  God  to  your  heart's  need  and  your  heart's  content. 
Be  satisfied  with  not  one  mouthful  less  than  the  slaking  of 
thy  thirst  and  the  quenching  of  thy  burning  desire.  Then 
delight  thyself  in  God,  and  He  will  give  thee  the  desires  of 
thy  heart. 

I  have  not  half  said  what  should  have  been  said ;  but  I 
have  brought  you  to  the  well.  God  be  praised,  I  have  done 
that ;  and  it  is  for  you  to  do  the  rest.     Amen, 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


^tQtni  §qmu  f  wlpit 


THE  TBIAU  and  TBIUMPU   OF  FAITH. 


%  Btxman 

Preached  on  Sabbath  Morning,  February  15th,  1891. 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  McNeill 


Tp:xt — Genesis  xxii. 

The  other  Sabbath  morning,  when  we  were  dealing  with 
the  story  of  Hagar,  we  suggested  that  it  might  have  calmed 
Hagar  in  the  torrent-tempest  and  whirlwind  of  her  grief 
if  she  could  have  but  understood  that,  after  all,  no  strange 
thing  was  happening  to  her.  Trial  is  the  common 
experience  of  all  those  whom  God  takes  into  covenant 
with  Himself ;  they  are  purified  through  suffering.  She 
thought,  perhaps,  that  nobody  was  ever  so  tried  and 
plagued  as  she  was  ;  turned  out  a  homeless  wanderer  with 
her  boy.  And  we  thought  how,  when  the  Lord  spoke  to 
her  out  of  heaven,  it  was  in  His  power  to  have  assuaged 
her  grief  and  cooled  her  burning  brow,  by  telling  her  that 
Abraham's  day  and  Isaac's  was  coming.  And,  this  morn- 
ing, we  are  face  to  face  with  Abraham's  trial.  The  day  has 
come  when  all  his  cherished  hopes  and  ambitions,  just 
like  Hagar's,  seem  to  be  smashed  into  nothing  by  a  bolt 
out  of  a  blue  sky. 
Vol.  III.— No.  15. 


218  "  THE    TRIAL   AND    TRIUMPH    OF    FAITH.'' 

This  was  a  severe  and  unmistakable  trial.  You  are  led 
to  expect  that  by  the  way  in  which  the  narrative  ushers 
itself  in.  It  was  to  be  a  trial  in  deed  and  in  truth,  and  no 
/nistake  about  it.  It  is  to  be  no  figure  of  speech.  It  is  not 
ushered  in  with  "  And  the  Lord  said,  I  will  try  Abraham, 
as  it  were,"  or  "  I  will  try  x\braham,  so  to  speak,  in  a 
sense,"  but  we  are  led  to  believe  from  the  calm,  deliberate, 
matter-of-fact  beginning,  that  there  is  a  calm,  deliberate, 
matter-of-fact  trial  that  shall  search  Abraham  to  the  very 
bottom,  to  the  centre  and  the  circumference  of  his  spiritual 
and  moral  nature.  Was  this  a  real  trial  ?  Commentators, 
I  notice,  differ  about  it.  Commentators  will  differ  if  they 
can  get  a  chance ;  and  although  God  says  very  plainly  in 
the  first  verse  what  He  was  going  to  do,  and  still  more 
plainly  in  the  second  verse  shows  us  the  very  angle  of 
incidence  of  the  trial,  just  where  the  blow  struck  in  upon 
all  the  quivering  nerves  in  Abraham's  heart,  still  some  of 
the  commentators  say,  ''Abraham  made  a  mistake.  The 
Lord  did  not  ask  him  to  slay  his  son.  The  Lord  only 
asked  him  to  offer  his  son  up;  but  according  to  the  old 
Canaanitish  heathen  practices  of  immolation  and  burning 
of  human  bodies  that  were  round  about  him,  he  thought 
that  God  meant  it  in  this  way.  Abraham  needlessly 
aggravated  the  trial."  What  a  pity  it  is  that  one  of  the 
commentators  had  not  been  tried  instead  of  Abraham. 
Por  once  we  should  have  seen  a  man  going  through  a  great 
trial  on  an  even  keel.  By  the  help  of  a  "Higher  Critic" 
what  God  said  would  easily  have  been  turned  into  any- 
thing you  please.  No,  no;  let  us  get  rid  of  this  idea. 
Abraham  did  not  excogitate  this  out  of  his  own  soul.  As 
P.  D.  Maurice  says  (and  he  is  not  always  a  sure  guide, 
but  he  is  here),  this  was  not  a  seed  that  was   dropped 


'*  THE  TEIAL  AND  TRIUMPH  OF  FAITH."       219 

in  his  mind  by  accident.  God's  own  hand  planted  it 
there,  and  it  was  God  Himself  that  made  His  servant 
unmistakably  understand  that  He  was  asking  for  Isaac 
to  be  offered  up  for  a  burnt-offering  upon  one  of  the 
mountains  that  He  would  show  him.  Asking  for  Isaac. 
"  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  God  did  try  Abraham,  and  said 
unto  him,  Abraham  ;  and  he  answered,  Here  I  am."  Then, 
you  know  the  trial.  You  know  how  it  is  set  forth  in  Scrip- 
ture. One  cannot  read  it  without  seeing  how  the  very  lan- 
guage in  which  the  trial  is  expressed  is  meant  to  catch  our 
mind's  eye,  to  stir  up  our  sympathies,  and  to  make  us  go 
through  the  whole  story  with  quick  sensibility  for  Abraham, 
and  with  clearly-opened  eyes  that  we  may  see  the  dealing 
of  God  and  understand  that  as  it  was  with  the  great 
Head  and  Prince  of  the  household  of  faith,  so  it  is 
with  all  his  lineage.  This  honour,  this  mark,  this  stamp, 
this  brand  have  all  God's  saints.  As  we  can  bear  it,  and 
according  to  our  individuality,  our  condition,  it  comes  to 
pass  that  God  does  try  every  spiritual  child  of  Abraham 
to  see  whether  he  be  worthy  of  his  lineage,  and  says  to 
every  one  of  us  in  some  high,  and  holy,  and  solemn  crisis 
of  life,  **  Abraham,  Abraham  "  ;  and  we  have  to  answer, 
"Here  am  I."  We  who  know  the  New  Testament,  we 
who  can  see  Abraham's  trial,  the  end  of  it  from  the 
beginning,  could  stand  up  and  encourage  him  as  if  it 
were  just  to  be  gone  through.  We  could  say  to  him, 
"  Abraham,  count  it  not  strange  concerning  the  fiery  trial. 
Abraham,  lose  not  hope,  lose  not  heart.  Abraham,  count 
it  all  joy  when  put  through  a  furnace  like  this ;  for  the 
trial  of  your  faith,  much  more  precious  than  that  of  gold 
that  perisheth,  though  it  be  tried  with  fire,  shall  be  found 
unto  praise,  and  honour,  and  glory  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus 


220  *'  THE    TBIAL    AND    TRIUMPH    OF    FAITH." 

Christ."  I  say  this  is  a  process  through  which  we  all 
have  to  go.  The  eternal  day  will  show,  when  all  God's 
sheep  are  gathered  together,  that  He  branded  every  one 
of  us  with  this  branding  iron. 

When  I  read  this  narrative,  I  always  feel  that  the  trial, 
the  crucifying  force  of  it,  lies  in  a  bit  of  unknown  land  there 
— known  only  to  God  and  known  only  to  Abraham — a  bit 
of  unknown  land  between  the  second  verse  and  the  third. 
The  trial  is  laid  on  in  the  second  verse  :  **  Take  thou  thy 
son,  thine  only  son  Isaac,  whom  thou  lovest,  and  get  thee 
into  the  land  of  Moriah ;  and  offer  him  there  for  a  burnt- 
offering  upon  one  of  the  mountains  which  I  will  tell  thee  of " ; 
and  when  you  come  to  the  third  verse  the  trial  is  over, 
virtually,  for  you  read  :  **  And  Abraham  rose  up  early  in 
the  morning,  and  saddled  his  ass,  and  took  two  of  the  young 
men  with  him,  and  Isaac  his  son,  and  clave  the  wood  for 
the  burnt-offering,  and  rose  up,  and  went  unto  the  place  of 
which  God  had  told  him."  "  Why,"  we  feel,  **  was  there 
any  trial  here?" — the  one  verse  slips  so  into  the  other. 
''  Was  this  Abraham  flesh  and  blood  ?  Did  this  man  feel 
us  other  fathers  feel?  or  is  there  some  kind  of  vague 
unreality  about  these  Old  Testament  people  ?  And  then  we 
get  the  answer  :  "  No,  the  very  best  of  them,  the  greatest 
Of  them,  were  as  human  as  we  are."  Elijah  was  a  man  of 
like  passions  with  ourselves. 

Abraham — well,  he  could  sin  like  us";  he  could  make  slips^ 
and  trips  like  each  one  of  us  ;  he  could  fall  all  his  length  in 
the  dirt,  and  get  as  dirty  as  anybody  who  falls  like  that. 
See  what  a  poor  show  he  made  in  Egypt.  And  then  you 
come  to  the  trial,  and  you  read  it  in  the  second  verse ;  and 
the  third  verse,  instead  of  being  filled  with  expostulations 
or  prayers,  or  at  least  asking  God  did  He  really  mean  this 


*'  THE    TRIAL   AND    TRIUMPH    OF   FAITH."  221 

— the  third  verse  is  Abraham  bundhng,  aod  packing,  and 
splitting  -wood,  and  making  all  ready,  and  taking  Isaac  with 
him,  and  virtually  doing  the  thing  in  anticipation.  You 
feel,  when  you  get  to  the  third  verse,  "  This  thing  will  be 
done."  You  correctly  anticipate.  This  man  is  not  going 
to  falter  from  the  way  in  which  he  is  beginning.  In  that 
unknown  bit  between  the  second  verse  and  the  third,  the 
time  between  the  moment  when  it  was  plain  to  Abraham's 
soul,  "  God  is  calling  me  to  give  up  Isaac,"  and  the  rising 
early  in  the  morning  to  give  him  up,  there  was  a  big  battle, 
I  have  no  doubt,  although  the  record  of  it  is  not  written. 
By  the  fact  that  Abraham  is  flesh  and  blood,  and 
that  God  is  trying  him,  proving  him,  you  may  be 
sure  that  he  winced,  and  tingled,  and  keen,  lancing 
pains  shot  through  the  whole  of  that  great,  big,  grand  soul 
of  his.  It  was  only  because  he  was  the  man  he  was  that 
God  laid  upon  him  the  trial  that  He  did.  Abraham  knew 
that  with  the  other  hand  God  would  uphold  him  and 
sustain  him,  but  it  cost  him  something.  All  alone,  all  alone, 
that  word  would  come  to  him,  and  all  through  that  night, 
before  he  rose  early  in  the  morning — was  Abraham's 
Waterloo.  Then  he  fought;  then  he  won  ;  then  he  gave  up 
not  only  Isaac,  but  he  gave  up  himself  in  thought,  in  feeling, 
in  spirit,  in  resolution  ;  and,  yielding  up  all  to  God,  he  slew 
Isaac  and  he  slew  himself — his  own  will,  his  own  plan,  his 
own  purpose,  his  own  thought.  It  was  done  in  spirit,  and 
in  feeling,  and  in  desire  before  it  was  done  outwardly.  And 
when  you  see  that  calm  man  stepping  out  in  the  third 
verse,  do  not  misunderstand  him.  Do  not ;  and  then  I  will 
not  misunderstand  you,  and  you  will  not  misunderstand  me. 
l\Iaybe,  to  each  other,  it  does  not  look  as  if  we  were  being 
greatly  tried.     And  perhaps  our  looks  are  as  deceptive  as 


922  "  THE    TEIAL   AND    TEIUMPH    OF    FAITH." 

Abraham's  looks  on  that  morning.  I  do  not  suppose  that 
on  many  mornings  Abraham  looked  better  than  he  did 
when  he  stepped  out  in  the  third  verse.  He  looked  wonder- 
fully fresh,  wonderfully  calm,  wonderfully  self-possessed, 
wonderfully  whole-hearted.  No  wonder.  That  was  his 
resurrection  morning.  Overnight  Abraham  had  died,  and 
risen  again.  Had  you  ever  a  night  like  that  ?  0  man,  you 
have  gone  to  bed  for  little  purpose  if  you  have  not  had  a 
solemn  hour,  when  you  became  dead  to  self,  and  dead  to  the 
world,  and  dead  to  sin,  and  dead  to  self-seeking,  and  dead 
to  pleasure,  and  come  to  life  again  with  a  new  life  of  resigna- 
tion to  God  and  to  God's  purpose.  I  say  that  Abraham 
died  overnight,  and  had  his  resurrection. 

I  think  that  he  is  a  type  and  picture  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Bead  the  Gospels  over,  and  thread  your  way  along 
carefully,  so  as  to  come  to  the  actual  spot,  the  actual  place 
where  Christ  made  the  offering  up  of  Himself  a  whole 
burnt-offering  to  the  Father's  will.  I  feel  that,  just  like 
Abraham,  it  was  not  altogether  and  only  on  the  cross,  I 
think  that  it  was  away  yonder  in  the  agony  of  the  garden. 
There  He  died.  There  He  rose  again.  There  He  gave 
Himself  up  to  His  Father,  body,  soul  and  spirit,  and 
after  He  came  out  of  the  agony  in  the  garden  men  and 
devils  might  leap  and  dance  upon  Him — He  was  dead  to 
them.  He  was  living  again  with  a  life  that  they  could  not 
touch,  that  no  lash,  or  mockery,  or  insult,  or  driven  nail 
could  reach.  When  He  said,  **  My  Father,  if  it  be  possible, 
let  this  cup  pa«s  from  Me  ;  nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but 
as  Thou  wilt."  Then,  then  was  the  offering  up.  And  I 
think  that,  coming  back  again  to  our  narrative,  in  his  own 
measure  it  was  the  same  with  Abraham.  He,  too,  between 
night  and  morning,  had  his  Gethsemane,  and  he  came  out 


"  THE    TRIAL    AND    TRIUMPH    OF    FAITH."  223 

of  it  calm,  collected,  ready  to  be  offered  up,  and  the  time  of 
his  departure  just  at  hand. 

When  Abraham  rose  up  early  that  morning  Isaac  was 
as  good  as  dead.  All  the  loves,  and  hopes,  and  ambitions 
that  centred  round  Isaac,  he  had  stabbed  them  all  to  the 
heart  fifty  times  on  his  bed,  he  had  killed  them  all : — hear 
the  hammer  and  nail  going  into  them.  And  he  rose  up  one 
of  the  grandest  men  who  ever  lived.  He  entered  into  grips, 
like  his  son  Jacob  long  after,  with  God,  and  found  out  that 
to  be  flung  by  God,  to  be  crushed  by  Him,  is  to  be  ennobled 
and  strengthened  for  ever  and  ever.  And  then  we  think 
that  we  will  find  salvation  by  going  to  evangelistic  meetings, 
and  listening  to  a  warm-hearted  preacher,  and  starting  off — 

* '  I  feel  like  singing  all  the  time, 
My  tears  are  wiped  away  !  " 

Now,  just  think  of  it.  Take  your  own  bonny  boy  there  in 
front  of  you,  and  then  remember  all  that  would  gather  round 
Isaac's  head  when  Abraham  looked  upon  him — his  son,  his 
only  son.  His  very  name  was  sunshine — Isaac  means 
laughter.  Isaac,  the  child  of  promise,  the  child  round 
whom  gathered  all  God's  promises.  Eemember  how  long 
he  had  waited  for  him,  how  long  he  had  wearied  for  him, 
and  how,  at  last,  he  had  come  by  a  sheer  miracle  of  God's 
power.  And  now  there  is  to  be  this  marring,  this  jarring, 
this  cutting  of  the  marble  column  into  shivers  just  when  it 
is  rising  in  all  its  shapely  beauty.  Have  not  some  of  you 
been  tried  in  that  way  ?  Let  all  of  us  keep  very  close  to 
God,  for  we  may  be  tried  like  that  before  another  twenty- 
four  hours.  This  God  who  loves  us — this  God  who  sok)ves 
us  that  we  are  never  to  question  His  love — is  a  God  who, 
notwithstanding  His  love,  is  coming  to  His  people  every 
day,  and  taking  away  the  desire  of  their  eyes  from  before 


224        "  THE  TRIAL  AND  TRIUMPH  OF  FAITH." 

them.  Every  day  He  is  taking  away  what  seems  to  be  the 
very  Hfe  of  our  hearts,  what  seems  to  be  the  very  indispens- 
able condition  of  our  having  any  joy,  and  any  comfort,  and 
any  brightness  here  below.  To-day  He  is  doing  it  all 
through  the  household  of  faith — taking  the  husband  from 
the  wife,  and  the  wife  from  the  husband,  with  all  this  bare, 
cruel,  crushing,  unexplained  severity.  **  Thy  son,  thine  only 
son,  Abraham.  You  know  the  one  I  mean — not  your  other 
son,  but  this  one,  Abraham.  It  is  not  Ishmael — it  is  Isaac, 
thy  son,  thine  only  son.  Stand  from  before  him.  Bring 
him  to  the  front."  "  But — but,  my  God,  the  child  I  love?" 
"Yes,  whom  thou  lovest.  Take  him — 'tis  he  I  want."  God 
does  that  yet.  The  thing  you  love,  your  darling — He  takes 
it,  and  seems  to  fling  it  out  of  your  sight ;  your  son,  your 
daughter,  your  one  ewe  lamb — that.  He  will  seem  to  be  a 
devourer.  He  will  seem  to  be  ruthless — this  God  who  so  loves 
us  that,  if  we  are  wise,  we  are  never  to  question  Him  ! 

Ah !  there  are  some  hearts  here  that,  even  while  I  am 
speaking,  will  know  what  God's  finger  is  pointing  at.  You 
are  trying  to  look  at  some  other  thing,  and  you  say, 
"  Here,  0  God,  I  will  give  Thee  this."  "  Oh  no,  for  it  is 
this — this — that  I  want."  Oh  how  we  try  to  give  Him 
something  else,  anything  but  this  ;  and  God  says,  "  No, 
this,  this  thine  Isaac,  thine  only  son  whom  thou  lovest, 
take  him  and  ofl'er  him  up  for  a  burnt-offering.  Your 
wife,  your  husband,  your  daughter,  your  son,  your  money." 
**  But,  my  Father,  think  of  what  I  can  do  with  it.  Think 
of  the  possibilities  and  the  prospects  that  it  opens  out  to 
me."  "  No,  no,  it  is  that.  Give  it  to  Me.  Offer  it  up." 
God  is  doing  it  every  day.  There  are  people  of  God  living 
near  to  God  who  wake  up  to-day  wealthy,  and  to-night  they 
are  as  poor  as  Job.  Ah  !  do  we  understand  Him,  and  do 
we  understand  that  this  is  a  trial  that  all  God's  people 
have  to  expect  just  because  He  loves  them? 

**  Then  on  the  third  day  Abraham  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and 
saw  the  place  afar  off."     I  have  explained  to  you  that,  of 


"  THE    TKIAL    AND    TRIUMPH    OF    FAITH."  225 

course,  the  severe  trial  would  be  wheu  the  word  came  to 
him  j&rst,  and  that  he  had  his  battle  in  the  secret  place  of 
his  own  soul ;  but  still,  how  prolonged  it  was.  Does  it  not 
look  as  if  God  were  just  torturing  this  poor  dear  man?  If 
it  had  been  brief  and  then  done  with,  it  would  have  been 
bad  enough,  but  it  was  so  long-lengthened  out — day  after 
•day,  day  after  day ;  and  on  the  third  day  Abraham  lifted 
up  his  eyes,  and  knew  that  this  was  the  place  afar  off  of 
which  God  had  spoken  to  him.  I  think  that  we  need  to 
learn  that  lesson.  It  is  not  in  a  day  or  in  an  hour.  It  is 
in  a  much  longer  time.  Many  times,  many  times,  ay,  to 
the  best  of  His  saints,  God  gives  this  prolonged  trial. 
What  for?  Oh,  as  I  have  often  said,  not  to  destroy  us,  but 
to  build  us  up,  to  see  whether  we  really  love  Him  or  no,  to 
see  whether  we  really  know  Him,  and  have  made  Him  so 
much  our  portion  and  our  heart's  desire  that  we  have  no 
fear  of  Him,  but  can  love  Him  and  believe  in  Him  when 
His  ways  are  utterly  crucifying  to  flesh  and  blood. 

Isaac  would  be  looking  up  into  his  face,  and  talking  about 
the  bright  morning,  and  about  his  future  prospects,  and 
€very  word  going  like  a  stab  to  the  heart  of  Abraham. 
Now,  that  is  how  Abraham  got  to  heaven.  I  say  that  is  how 
he  got  to  heaven,  with  every  fine  sensibility  of  his  soul 
made  to  twang  like  a  bow-string ;  and  then  we  think  to 
"  sit  and  sing  ourselves  away,  to  everlasting  bliss."  No, 
scarcely.  I  trust  we  shall  all  get  to  heaven  ;  but  this  is  the 
road — self-renunciation,  laying  one's  self  on  the  altar.  "  If 
any  man  take  not  up  his  cross,  and  deny  himself  daily,  and 
follow  Me,  he  cannot  be  My  disciple,"  He  may  do  for  a 
church-goer,  or  a  chapel-goer,  or  an  office-bearer,  or  a 
preacher,  or  a  great  many  things  in  this  ongoing  called 
■"  religion,"  but  "  he  cannot  be  My  disciple."  He  refuses 
the  furnace,  the  cleansing. fires,  the  cross. 

"  On  the  third  day  Abraham  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  saw 
the  place  afar  off."  Only  learn,  then,  it  will  not  be  for  ever. 
To-day  and  to-morrow  will  be  trial,  like  our  Master's;  but, 


226  **  THE    TKIAL    AND    TRIUMPH    OF   FAITH.** 

like  Him,  on  the  third  day  we  shall  be  perfected.  God  won't 
keep  us  in  the  furnace  to  burn  us  up,  but  only  long  enough 
to  do  us  the  highest  good.  On  the  third  day  the  sore  strain 
in  one  sense  came  to  an  end.  Then  I  want  you  to  notice 
further  how  God's  grace  sustains  us  with  the  one  hand 
while  it  lays  on  the  burden  with  the  other.  There  was  a 
great  deal  in  that  word  in  the  fifth  verse :  "  Abraham  said 
unto  his  young  men,  Abide  ye  here  with  the  ass;  and  I 
and  the  lad  will  go  yonder  and  worship,  and  come  again  to 
you."  See  the  sustaining  power  of  God's  grace  in  time  of 
trial.  With  the  one  hand  God  seeming  to  crush  us, 
and  with  the  other  hand  undergirding  us.  He  delighted  to 
see  that  this  Abraham,  whom  He  had  formed  for  Himself, 
and  whom  He  is  touching  finely  to  fine  issues,  He  delighted 
to  see  him  standing  the  trial.  I  looked  the  other  day  with 
admiration  at  a  street  porter  carrying  what  would  crush  soft 
people  like  us.  I  could  not  gather  my  strength  below  the 
burden  and  put  the  burden  just  over  me  on  the  strength  as 
he  did — a  man  not  nearly  my  weight,  but  trained ;  don't 
you  see  ?  And  that  is  what  God  is  wanting  to  do  with  all 
of  us.  God  likes  to  see  a  big  load  well  carried.  Now, 
my  dear  troubled  brother  or  sister — you,  a  widow,  lost 
your  husband,  five  children,  and  you  don't  know  how  they 
are  to  be  fed,  and  you  think  everybody  has  left 
you — believe  me,  God  has  not  more  interest  in  any- 
body in  London  than  in  a  widow  with  five  children,  and  not 
a  friend.  It  will  add  to  the  joy  of  heaven  if  He  sees  you 
carrying  that  burden  well,  back  straight,  shoulders  firm,  the 
burden  on,  and  your  strength  gathered  well,  and  tight  in 
below.  God  likes  to  see  it ;  it  is  the  grandest  sight  on  His 
earth.  "When  He  sees  you.  He  looks  at  Jesus  beside  Him 
on  the  throne,  and  Jesus  looks  at  Him,  because  you  down 
on  the  earth  are  bravely  going  along  Christ's  own  path,  the 
great  predestined,  foreordained  track  through  this  world, 
the  track  of  suffering  and  trial  borne  in  faith,  giving  glory  ta 
God,  **  staggering  not  through  unbelief." 


<<  THE    TRIAL    AND    TRIUMPH    OF    FAITH."  i^27 

I  have  to  go  on  to  the  seventh  verse  :  "  Isaac  spake  unto 
Abraham,  and  said,  My  father :  and  he  said.  Here  am  I, 
my  son.  And  he  said.  Behold  the  fire  and  the  wood  :  but 
v^here  is  the  lamb  for  a  burnt-offering?  And  Abraham 
said.  My  son,  God  will  provide  Himself  a  lamb  for  a  burnt- 
offering  :  so  they  went  both  of  them  together." 

After  all,  Isaac  was  not  sacrificed.  Although  there  was 
that  altar,  well-built  and  all  ready,  the  victim  was  not 
Isaac ;  the  victim  was  provided  elsewhere.  As  one  has 
said,  "After  all,  all  that  we  can  do  is  to  build  altars  and 
arrange  them.  God  Himself  provides  the  Lamb  for  a 
burnt-offering."  "  The  world,"  as  another  has  said,  "  yea, 
the  Church,  Christ's  rejecting  people,  provided  the  altar. 
They  provided  the  cross,  they  provided  the  nails,  and  God 
provided  the  Lamb,  and  put  the  Lamb  into  their  hands." 

Did  Isaac  fight  and  struggle  with  him?  There  is  no  hint 
of  it  in  the  narrative.  Isaac  was  young,  Abraham  old. 
Very  likely,  if  it  had  been  a  question  of  physical  strength, 
Isaac  could  easily  have  broken  away.  He  had  at  least 
equal  power  with  his  father.  There  is  no  resistance, 
Isaac  meekly  allows  himself  to  be  laid  upon  the  altar,  and 
asks  him  this  question,  showing  that  at  any  rate,  whatever 
he  was  thinking,  there  was  no  resistance,  there  was  no 
misunderstanding.  So  with  God  the  Father  ;  so  with  God 
the  Son.  Surely  these  are  the  things  that  the  angels 
desire  to  look  into.  Surely  it  will  be  part  of  the  unendmg 
delight,  the  unending  mental  and  spiritual  expansion  that 
are  before  us  to  eternally  gaze  and  gaze  again  into  this 
unfathomable  mystery  of  the  Father  entering  into  covenant 
with  the  Son  for  the  redemption  of  poor  sinners  and  the 
entire  harmony  and  agreement  between  them. 

'♦  And  Abraham  stretched  forth  his  hand,  and  took  the 
knife  to  slay  his  son.  And  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  called 
unto  him  out  of  heaven,  and  said,  Abraham,  Abraham  : 
and  he  said,  Here  am  I.  And  He  said.  Lay  not  thine 
hand  upon  the  lad,  neither  do  thou  anything  unto  him: 


228  "  THE    TRIAL    AND    TRIUMPH    OF    FAITH." 

for  now  I  know  that  thou  fearest  God,  seeing  thou  hast 
not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son  from  Me."  The 
world  surely  never  saw  such  a  sight  until  it  saw  Calvary  ; 
when  Abraham  laid  Isaac  unyielding  on  the  altar,  and 
hound  him,  unstruggling,  as  he  would  have  bound  a  lamb. 
And  how  they  bade  each  other  good-bye,  God  only  knows, 
but  it  was  done.  O  men  and  women  with  sons  and 
daughters,  just  think  of  it  !  He  laid  him  on,  and  took 
his  hand,  and  bade  him  good-bye,  and  I  am  sure  he  kissed 
him.  He  encouraged  him,  and  Isaac  encouraged  his  father 
back  again.  And  all  that,  had  it  not  a  reference  to  the 
cross,  to  that  dateless  day  in  eternity  when  God  the  Father 
and  God  the  Son  looked  at  each  other,  and  each  interpreted 
the  other's  thought  and  wish ;  and  Jesus  said,  **  I  will  go  "; 
and  the  Father  said,  **  I  will  give  You  up"  ?  From  all  eternity 
They  perfectly  agreed,  and  in  the  fulness  of  time  He  came. 
Only  just  when  He  got  into  Gethsemane,  He  spoke  back 
again  to  His  Eternal  Father,  and  said,  "  If  it  be  possible — 
I  do  not  repent  what  I  said  in  eternity ;  but  now  that  I 
have  come  into  human  flesh,  and  the  cross  is  there,  and  I 
know  in  actual  experience  what  it  is — if  it  be  possible  "; 
and  the  Father  stood  over  Him,  and  never  loved  Him  more 
than  when  He  withdrew  His  face  from  Him  and  let  Him 
die.  That  swallows  up  all  offering,  to  believe  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  our  Lamb  of  Sacrifice,  with  head,  and  heart, 
and  soul ;  to  stand  before  God's  Christ  on  the  cross,  and 
say,  "  Lord,  I  believe,"  is  to  have  performed  the  great 
act  of  self-immolation,  to  have  renounced  yourself  and 
entered  into  the  peace  and  bliss  of  faithful  Abraham. 
Now,  are  we  outside,  or  in  it  ?  This  on  Abraham's  part 
was  faith,  to  obey  God's  word  up  to  the  very  hilt,  to  the  last 
iota  and  syllable  to  believe  in  God,  and  this  was  accounted 
to  Abraham  for  righteousness. 

We  have  cheapened  the  word  "  beUeve  "  ;  we  have  taken 
the  music  out  of  it,  and  made  a  poor  cheap  penny  whistle 
out  of  the  anthems  of  eternal  glory. 


"  THE    TRIAL    AND    TRIUMPH    OF    FAITH."  229 

Come  back  again  to  Abraham.  Come  and  look  at  this 
thing  on  the  human  plane,  and  remember  that  word,  "  For 
now  I  know  that  thou  fearest  God,  seeing  thou  hast  not 
withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son  from  Me  ";  and  let  me  ask 
this  question — has  God  got  the  same  proof  from  us  yet  that 
we  are  His?  He  did  not  give  Abraham  this  certificate 
until  he  had  done  this  thing.  "  Now,  I  know  that  thou 
fearest  Me,  seeing  that  thou  hast  not  withheld  thine  only 
son  from  Me."  My  friend,  if  we  are  to  be  God's,  and  to  get 
into  God's  favour  and  fellowship,  and  to  get  all  the  blessing 
and  strength  that  comes  out  of  it,  let  there  be  an  offering  up 
to  God.  The  Lord  meets  us,  and  He  does  not  ask  from 
us  what  He  asks  from  Abraham,  but  He  does  ask  the 
same  disposition  of  soul.  Now,  whatever  it  is  that  we 
love  and  cling  to,  come  now,  and  you  will  encourage  me, 
and  I  will  encourage  you.  Dig  it  up  out  of  your  heart, 
though  it  is  like  tearing  yourself  to  pieces,  and  offer  it  up 
to  God  as  you  are  and  where  you  sit.  Come,  come,  fathers 
and  mothers ;  offer  up  your  children.  Quit  your  own 
ambitions,  your  own  purposes,  your  own  plans.  Take 
your  children  where  you  are,  each  one  of  them,  and  offer 
them  up.  *'  Not  mine,  0  God  :  Thine,  Thine,  Thine  !  " 
Take  your  business,  take  your  wealth,  take  whatever  is 
nearest  to,  and  curled  and  nestled  most  closely  in,  your 
heart.  It  may  be  something  bad.  Take  that  lust  that 
you  love,  that  you  have  never  given  up  yet.  Offer  it  up. 
If  you  would  get  this  verdict  from  God — "  Now  I  know  " — 
then  this  is  to  be  done.  What  is  it  ?  I  once  put  a  man  in 
a  great  crisis,  and,  maybe,  I  will  do  it  to  somebody  again  : 
for,  in  God's  name,  it  has  got  to  be  done.  There  was  a 
man  sitting  before  me,  and  I  was  preaching  like  this,  and  he 
was  a  good  man,  what  you  would  call  a  God-fearing  man. 
He  went  regularly  to  church ;  he  worshipped  God  as  we  do. 
When  the  Gospel  was  being  preached  just  by  these  same 
unworthy  lips,  I  have  seen  his  eyes  filling  every  time  I 
just  caught  him  by  the  heart,  and  I  could  squeeze  his  heart 


230  "  THE    TRIAL    AND    TRIUMPH    OF   FAITH." 

out  at  his  eyes  as  you  can  water  out  of  a  sponge.  He  was 
an  emotional  man.  He  loved  to  hear  the  Gospel.  But, 
cutting  a  long  story  short,  he  was  a  licensed  grocer.  Do 
you  gee  where  the  Isaac  is  coming  in  ?  Do  you  see  it  ? 
Well,  if  ever  I  preached  personally,  I  preached  personally 
that  time.  I  could  not  help  it.  At  any  rate,  I  spoke  in 
God's  name,  not  to  him — with  as  much  generality  as  kept  it 
off  him — and  I  saw  his  eyes  kindling,  and  I  made  that  an 
illustration.  I  said,  "  It  may  be  something  in  your  business, 
and  it  is  not  a  little  thing.  It  is  the  thing  that  is  making 
your  money.  It  is  bringing  all  to  you  that  money  brings, 
and  I  am  not  despising  that.  To  give  it  up  will  be  a  trial, 
a  sore  trial.  I  am  not  here  to  denounce  you.  I  am  not  here 
to  say,  '  Surrender  ! '  to  put  a  pistol  at  your  head  and  say, 
'  Stand  and  deliver ! '  No,  but  in  deep  sympathy  I  say,  as 
if  God  Himself  had  said  it,  *  Take  now  thy  licence  and  offer  it 
up.'  "  That  man  came  to  me,  and  he  gripped  my  hand,  and 
he  wrung  it  till  the  moisture  came  to  my  eyes,  for  it  was 
sore,  and  he  had  not  a  soft  hand.  He  wrung  it,  and 
he  wrung  it  again,  and  he  said,  "I  never  understood 
that  Abraham  story  until  to-night.  I  never  under- 
stood it  till  to-night";  and  he  came  nearer  to  me,  and 
he  whispered  in  my  ear,  "  I  never  understood  Geth- 
semane  till  to-night."  I  have  to  give  it  up  —  yes, 
though  it  should  mean  —  no  matter  what  it  should 
mean — though  from  an  earthly  point  of  view  it  may 
mean  distress,  though  it  is  like  cutting  my  own  throat, 
nearly."  Yes,  what  did  giving  up  Isaac  mean  to  Abraham  ? 
A  desolate  house,  a  desolate  home,  a  place  not  to  be  en- 
dured ever  again,  for  Isaac  was  out  of  it.  That  was  what 
God  said  to  him,  and  the  grand  old  man  would  have  done 
it — he  would  ;  for  he  so  got  to  see  that  if  a  man  loves  God, 
and  if  a  man  yields  up  all  his  will,  and  his  purpose,  and  his 
plan  to  God,  he  has  not  lost  anything.  He  has  gotten 
everything.  Having  God,  he  has  everything.  '*  All  things 
are  yours,"  as  Paul  said  afterwards,   "  whether  Paul,   or 


««  THE    TRIAL   AND    TRIUMPH    OF   FAITH."  231 

Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things 
present,  or  things  to  come.  All  are  yours,  and  ye  are 
Christ's,  and  Christ  is  God's."  That  man  gave  up.  That 
man  shut  the  door  on  the  drink  traffic  so  far  as  he  was  con- 
cerned.    It  was  a  great  sacrifice  to  him. 

Now,  my  friend,  this  giving  up  has  got  to  be  done.  I 
cannot  let  you  go  until  I  string  you  up  to  this  point.  Here 
is  the  wood.  There  is  the  altar  before  and  behind  and 
round  about,  and  there  is  the  God  of  our  salvation,  and  He 
points  us  to  the  cross,  and  He  says,  "  See  what  I  gave  up. 
See  what  My  Son  gave  up."  Now,  we  come  to  your  altar. 
Lay  down  on  that  altar  everything  legitimate,  everything 
illegitimate.  Lay  down  on  that  altar  your  darling  lusts. 
Down  with  them.  Lay  them  down.  Every  appetite  that 
is  in  you,  clean  or  unclean,  lay  it  down  there.  Lay  down 
everything  that  you  are,  everything  that  you  have,  and  only 
take  back  what  God  gives  you  back. 

While  I  stand,  although  the  hour  has  gone,  I  remember 
another  story.  Shall  I  tell  it  ?  It  is  the  story  of  a  decent 
man,  a  Christian  man,  a  Christian  worker,  but — he  had  a 
"  but  ";  he  had  a  drawback — there  was  a  secret  black  spot  m 
his  life.  It  was  not  that  he  was  either  a  drink-seller  or  a 
drink-taker.  He  neither  made  it,  nor  sold  it,  nor  bought  it. 
He  was  a  teetotaler ;  and  I  want  to  say  this  in  order  to 
show  how  little  teetotalism  can  do  in  this  direction.  He 
was  unclean.  His  darling  was  unholy  passion,  and  he 
knew  it.  He  was,  as  we  all  are,  two  men  in  one ;  as 
Abraham  was  up  to  this  time  ;  and  that  other,  that  un- 
yielded  part  of  him,  hankered  and  went  after  this.  Many 
times  he  had  had  a  struggle,  but  of  late  he  had  ceased 
struggling.  He  had  said,  **  Well,  well,  this  is  too  strong. 
God  made  me  this  way.  God  gave  me  these  passions," 
as  Abraham  might  have  said,  "  God  gave  me  Isaac,  mar- 
vellously gave  me  Isaac.  It  is  impossible  that  He  can  be 
asking  him  back  again  " — "  God  gave  me  these  passions." 
But    the    Spirit   of   God   brought   home    the  Word   with 


232  **  THE    TRIAL    AND   TRIUMPH    OF    FAITH." 

power,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  reluctantly  dragged  him  up 
to  the  altar  of  sacrifice,  the  altar  of  self-immolation,  as  I 
am  trying  to  do  with  you,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  helped 
him  to  bring  forward  his  darling  lust,  and  he  took  the  knife 
and  plunged  it  to  the  heart  of  his  own  sin.  He  became  a 
new  man  after  that ;  he  became  a  power  after  that ;  he 
became  a  whole  man,  a  true  man,  after  that ;  no  longer  two 
men  pulled  now  this  way  and  pulled  now  that  way,  but  one 
man,  an  integer,  no  longer  a  fraction  or  a  decimal,  but  an 
integer,  a  whole  number,  a  man  sublimed  and  multiplied 
by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Can  we  really  say  that  we  are  His  children  ?  This  is 
the  characteristic  —  a  holy  people,  a  people  who  have 
yielded  themselves  body  and  soul  and  spirit  unto  God, 
with  a  sweet  reasonableness  that  brings  the  beginning  of 
heaven  into  the*  soul.  Now,  do  it,  my  brother ;  do  it,  my 
sister.  God  knows  that  it  is  hard.  God  is  not  so  ruthless 
as  He  seems.  The  word  seems  to  be  bald,  and  bare,  and 
pitiless.  It  is  not  that.  Behind  all  that  seeming  hardness 
and  inconsiderateness,  there  is  the  great  yearning  heart 
of  the  Lord  our  God,  and  the  moment  that  we  do  it,  His 
arms  are  round  about  us,  and  His  kiss  is  upon  our  cheek, 
and  His  own  hand  is  soothing  us,  and  saying,  "  Now,  My 
son,  I  have  got  you.  You  were  away  from  Me,  Abraham  ; 
Isaac  was  taking  you  away  from  Me,  Abraham ;  I  never 
gave  you  Isaac  that  he  might  take  you  away  from  Me. 
Abraham,  I  love  you,  and  you  are  taking  the  gift  and 
forgetting  the  Giver,  so  I  asked  him  back,  for  I  knew  that 
if  I  took  him  you  would  follow  him  and  come  back  to  Me. 
Abraham,  it  was  you  that  I  wanted."  God  will  say  that 
to  us.  He  will  make  it  up  to  us.  We  have  lost  nothing 
except  what  would  have  ruined  us,  for  it  would  have 
spoiled  our  communion  with  God ;  and  we  have  gained 
everything. 

May  the  Lord  make  this  to  be  an  hour  of  searching 
and  of  full  surrender.     Amen. 

Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


Regent  §quare  ^Elpit. 


I   FEEL   LIKE    SINGING    ALL  THE   TIME. 


%  Sermon 

Preached  on  Sabbath  Morning,  January  18th,  1891. 

BY   THE 

REV,  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


Tkxt — 103nl  Psalm  :   "  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul." 

There  are  six  things  here,  you  will  notice,  for  which  we  are 
called  upon  to  bless  our  God.  We  might  make  this,  with- 
out being  over-fanciful,  into  a  directory,  not  exactly  for 
public  worship,  nor  altogether  for  private  worship  either, 
but  for  that  element  in  private  worship  which  belongs  to 
praise  and  thanksgiving.  The  worship  of  God,  either  in 
public  or  private,  is,  as  you  know,  complex.  We  have  to 
adore  Him ;  we  have  to  confess  our  sins ;  we  have  to  ask 
for  guidance  and  help  ;  we  have  also  continually  to  give 
thanks.  And  here  in  these  detailed  items,  as  given  from 
the  Psalmist's  heart  and  experience,  and  from  the  teaching  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  behind  that  experience,  we  have  something 
to  inform  and  direct  our  thoughts — something  to  help  us  to 
rise  to  the  height  of  this  great  argument,  blessing  the  Lord 
our  God  for  personal  grace  and  mercy  in  the  midst  of 
abounding  sin  and  suffering. 
Vol.  III.— No.  16. 


234  "  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME." 

Our  Lord  was  never  asked  by  His  disciples  to  teach  them 
how  to  praise.  He  was  once  asked,  "  Lord,  teach  us  how 
to  pray ; "  and  in  choice  and  particular  language  He  led  out 
their  hearts  and  ours  in  plain,  express,  worthy  petitions. 
But  if  He  had  been  asked  to  teach  them  how  to  praise,  I  do 
not  know  that  even  He — remembering  the  fountain  from 
which  this  psalm  comes  :  He  would  only  have  been  using 
His  own — I  do  not  know  that  even  He  would  have  answered 
otherwise  than  in  the  language  before  us.  ''After  this 
manner  praise  ye  :  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul:  and  all  that 
is  within  me,  bless  His  holy  name.  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my 
soul,  and  forget  not  all  His  benefits  :  who  forgive th  all 
thine  iniquities  ;  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases  ;  who  re- 
deemeth  thy  life  from  destruction  ;  who  crowneth  thee  w^th 
lovingkindness  and  tender  mercies ;  who  satisfieth  thy 
mouth  with  good  things  ;  so  that  thy  youth  is  renewed  like 
the  eagle's."  Verily,  here  is  surely,  on  every  ground,  a  safe 
and  worthy  and  most  excellent  rule  for  ordering  our  thoughts, 
and  our  words  too,  in  this  great  matter. 

I  fain  would  go  into  the  whole  psalm,  but  it  is  too  vast, 
too  broad  and  deep.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  somewhat  like 
a  great  arch  spanning  a  ravine  or  chasm,  that  otherwise 
there  would  be  no  getting  across  ;  a  great  gulf,  fixed,  filled 
with  all  manner  of  things  awful,  and  gruesome,  and  destruc- 
tive. Here  is  one  of  the  sides — tJiis  side  of  the  arch — per- 
sonal grace  and  personal  mercy.  And  the  spring  and  span 
of  the  arch — th«  real  bridge  of  it — is  found  in  the  middle  part 
of  the  psalm — the  covenant  Lord  our  God,  the  covenant  God 
of  Israel :  "  the  mercy  of  the  Lord   is  from  everlasting  to 


"  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME."  235 

everlasting,  to  children's  children,  to  such  as  keep  His 
covenant,  and  to  those  that  remember  His  commandments 
to  do  them."  And  this,  again,  is  the  far  side — the  heavenly 
side — where  the  spring  of  the  arch  gracefully  falls  to  the 
eternal  shore ;  when  we  are  called  upon,  as  though  we 
stood  in  the  midst  of  the  heavenly  glory,  had  left  the  earth, 
and  forgotten  the  howling  ravine  :  **  Bless  the  Lord,  ye 
His  angels,"  the  redeemed  sinner  of  the  earth  leading  the 
heavenly  choir  ;  "  Bless  the  Lord,  ye  His  angels,  that  excel 
in  strength,  that  do  His  commandments,  hearkening  unto 
the  voice  of  His  Word.  Bless  ye  the  Lord,  all  ye  His 
hosts;  ye  ministers  of  His,  that  do  His  pleasure" — as  if, 
standing  on  heaven's  heights,  we  saw  back  through  all  time 
and  space,  through  the  finite  and  the  infinite,  "  Bless  the 
Lord,  all  His  works  in  all  places  of  His  dominion  :  bless 
the  Lord,  0  my  soul."  I,  who  came  on  the  bridge  at  the 
earthly  end  of  it,  am  still  ''  I  "  at  the  heavenly  end ;  saying 
at  the  end  what  I  said  at  the  beginning,  and  never  forgot 
all  the  way  across,  "  My  God  and  me ;  my  need  and  His 
fulness.     Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul." 

Now,  let  us  come  back  to  notice  a  few  particulars. 
"  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me  " — 
toithln  me.  That  is  the  prelude,  the  overture.  Here,  like 
some  mighty  musician,  the  Psalmist  sketches  in  the  two 
first  verses  the  theme  that  afterwards  is  to  be  worked 
out  in  detail,  in  symphony,  and  melody,  and  harmony. 
He  reminds  us  here,  then,  that  the  praise  of  God  is 
essentially  an  inward  thing.  That  is  the  secret  of  it — 
its  inwardness.     I  do  not  think   he  is  discounting,   I  do 


236  ''  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME." 

not  think  he  is  opposing,  and  renouncing,  and  denouncing 
these  outward  forms  it  takes.  It  \YOuld  have  been  incon- 
sistent for  David  certainly  to  have  done  so.  He  calls 
for  the  outward  in  many  a  psalm.  He  asks  that  God 
may  be  praised  with  a  loud  voice ;  he  asks  that  the 
timbrel,  and  harp,  and  psaltery,  and  organ,  and  I  don't 
know  what — all,  that  the  full  orchestral  band  may  help 
the  soul  in  swelling  out  its  hymn  of  praise  to  God. 
But  here  he  just  forgets  these,  and  by  forgetting  them 
puts  them  in  their  true,  accidental,  or  merely  secondary 
place,  that  he  may  fasten  attention  on  the  personalness 
and  inwardness  of  praise — **  all  that  is  within  me." 

Then  each  one  of  us  might  sing  this  psalm.  It  depends 
not  on  voice  or  instrument.  We  are  all  invited,  and  the 
materials  lie  at  hand.  It  only  depends  on  this — I  will  put 
it  almost  to  the  verge  of  grotesqueness  to  emphasize  it — 
have  you  got  a  "  within,"  or  are  you  all  "outside"?  Are 
you  truly  a  living  soul  ?  That  is  the  touchstone,  that  is  the 
test ;  have  you  got  an  "  inner  man  "  ?  Have  you  an  inner 
life  that  no  eye  can  see  but  your  own  and  God's ;  that  no 
person  can  touch,  after  all,  nor  understand,  save  yourself  ? — 
a  secret  chamber,  unknown,  unobserved ;  the  vulture's  eye 
hath  not  seen  it ;  the  keenest  critics  know  nothing  about  it. 
The  Holy  Spirit,  behind  the  Psalmist,  goes  to  that  door. 
He  gives  a  knock,  a  ring,  to  rouse,  to  call,  to  evoke  the  real 
yo20  inside  these  muddy  vestures  of  decay,  behind  this  stout 
framework  of  walls  and  windows — He  speaks  to  the 
inhabitant  within.  *'  All  that  is  within  me,  bless  His  holy 
name.'      I  might  call  in  the  aid  of  mental  philosophy,  but 


"  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME."  237 

I  won't,  in  a  kind  of  partial  attempt  to  describe  all  that  is 
within — the  reason,  and  the  will,  and  the  conscience,  and 
the  memory,  and  the  affections  and  desires.  What  a  great 
life  is  inside  I  What  a  wonderful  organ.  And  the  Holy 
Ghost  wishes  the  breath  of  thankfulness  to  breathe  through 
all  its  stops.  What  a  harp  with  many  strings  !  And  every 
one  can  be  thrummed  by  Divine  fingers,  can  be  struck  with 
the  plectron  of  Christ's  own  hand,  can  vibrate  with  this 
sweet,  inimitable,  spiritual  music  :  "0  my  soul,  my  soul, 
bless  God;  forget  thyself,  thine  outward  self,  and  that 
clamorous  outward  world ;  dismiss  it  all,  and  come  inside 
and  draw  the  curtains  close,  and  turn  up  the  light,  and  sing 
thy  psalm  of  praise  to  thine  own  God."  As  we  might  put 
it  in  our  braid,  auld  Scottish  tongue :  "  Sing  your  ain  sang.'' 
That  is  what  David  is  thinking  of ;  only  he  says  it  in 
Hebrew,  not  in  broad  Scotch  :  **  Sing  your  ain  sang,  your 
ain  psalm,  to  your  ain  Eedeemer." 

"All  that  is  within,  bless  His  holy  name."  Is  there 
another  point,  or  am  I  over- emphasizing  it,  when  he  says. 
His  holy  name  "  ?  I  would  set  that  before  mine  own  mind 
when  I  am  engaged  in  this  heavenly  exercise  ;  as  if  the  Lord 
would  have  me  understand  that  praise  has  a  real  "objective," 
just  as  prayer  has.  There  is  really  One  there  before  you, 
whom  you  are  praising.  As  I  have  a  name,  and  that  name 
denotes,  and  connotes,  and  shuts  me  off  from  you,  and  you 
from  me,  so  is  it  with  the  Highest.  I  am  speaking  to  One  as 
personal  as  myself.  One  who  has  a  name,  with  all  that  a 
name  denotes  and  connotes  of  personality.  The  Maker 
shall  surely  have  what  He  has  put  in  me.     He  that  made 


238  "  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME." 

my  eye,  shall  He  not  see  ?  He  that  made  my  ear,  shall  there 
not  be  hearing  in  Him  ?  He  that  made  my  heart,  my  inward 
heart,  that  loves  and  hates  and  throbs  and  swells,  shall 
there  not  be  in  Him  an  heart  to  love  and  hate  ?  All  things 
that  are  personal  are  in  Him.  So  that  when  we  are  prais- 
ing the  Lord,  anything  that  would  make  us  feel  misty  and 
hazy  is  taken  away  from  us  by  this  word,  "  Bless  His  holy 
name."  Thou  art  beside  thy  God  as  beside  a  living  friend, 
who  just  a  moment  ago  lifted  thee  out  of  deep  waters,  and 
has  set  thee  wet  and  shivering,  or  warm  and  dry,  on  the 
shore.  Thou  art  at  the  feet  of  thy  Saviour,  thyself  and  He, 
as  if,  besides  thyself,  nor  man  nor  angel  lived  in  earth  or 
heaven.  For,  you  know,  in  these  metaphysical,  refining 
days,  we  need  this  little  prelude,  these  few  notes  touched  to- 
put  us  right ;  to  give  us  the  key  tones,  to  show  us  the  lines 
and  spaces  of  the  stave  on  which  our  song  is  set,  that  we 
may  be  sure  and  certain,  and  ring  out  the  notes  like  those 
who  "know  their  music,"  and  are  delivered  from  faltering, 
and  uncertainty. 

Modern  science  is  quite  uncertain,  either  about  me,, 
myself,  or  Thee,  Thyself,  my  God ;  quite  uncertain  ;  dumb- 
and  dark.  It  is  quite  done  with  our  hymns,  either  ancient 
or  modern  ;  and  hasn't,  as  yet,  at  any  rate,  published  a 
collection  of  its  own.  Professor  Huxley  will  be  in  no- 
danger  of  getting  into  a  whirhng,  excited,  corybantic  state 
over  such  "  songs  without  words  "  as  agnostics  sing. 

"  Bless  the (Blank), 

Oil,  my (blank)  " 

is  rather  thinnish,  I  should  say ;  quite  too  utterly  blank,. 


"  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME."  239 

in  fact.  But  something  like  that  gets  into  reHgiou,  and  it 
seems  to  be  rather  more  sublime  to  be  hazy  and  uncertain, 
to  make  God  so  big  and  vast  that  we  cannot  name  Him. 
That  kind  of  teaching  never  calls  Him  "  The  Lord  my 
God."  That  kind  of  teaching  calls  Him  the  Great  Un- 
known— capital  G  and  capital  U.  That  kind  of  teaching 
deifies  Him  with  ctipitals — the  Infinite,  the  Immense,  the 
Unseen.  That  kind  of  teaching  says,  *'  Pray ;  but,  after  all, 
the  blessing  of  prayer  is  in  its  reflex  action.  The  prayer  goes 
out  of  your  mouth,  and  comes  back  into  your  ear  again,  and 
does  you  some  good  that  way."  But  the  old  teaching  of 
the  Bible  puts  God  before  me,  and  makes  Him  objective 
and  real.  I  am  not  shooting  at  nothing.  I  am  speaking 
into  an  ear  that  is  connected  with  an  heart  that  is  connected 
with  an  arm  that  moves  the  world.  '*  Oh,  yes,"  says  the 
modern  ;  "  pray;  but  it  is  reflex.  Ask,  seek;  but  you  will 
never  find."  As  one  has  said,  **  You  have  lost  your  child, 
and  you  go  looking  for  it.  Look  for  it,  and  look  for  it 
diligently.  You  will  never  find  your  child,  but  it  is  a 
pleasant  exercise.  Seek,  you  will  never  find  anything;  but 
it's  grand  to  be  seeking ;  and  by-and-bye  you  will  not  want 
your  child."  Not  so  David  ;  not  so,  I  trust,  with  you  and 
me.  We  seek,  we  knock,  and  it  is  opened  unto  us.  The 
Living  One  comes  forth  and  says,  "  I  hear  you  ringing  the 
bell ;  what  do  you  want  ?  "  And  so  in  praise,  which  in 
many  ways  is  so  akin  to  prayer,  we  will  come  with  our 
souls  filled  with  gladness,  and  tell  Him,  knowing  that  He 
listens,  and  is  dehgbted  with  the  incense  and  pure  offering 
of  a  grateful  heart. 


240  "  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME." 

One  other  note  that  the  Psahnist  strikes  in  this  prehide 
leads  me  right  down  into  the  substance  of  the  matter  : 
ti  Forget  not  all  His  benefits."  O  my  believing  friends,  the 
trouble  with  us  lies  there.  Our  best  servant  to  help  us  in 
this  inward  work  of  blessing  and  heaping  praises  on  the 
name  of  God  is  a  good  memory.  I  think  we  are  sadly 
defective  there.  If  you  are  forgetful,  you  will  be  silent. 
Has  any  soul  here  been  getting  dumb  towards  God  in 
praise?  You  have  been  getting  careless  in  the  exercise 
of  memory.  ''Forget  not  all  His  benefits."  For  we  do 
forget.  Partly  it  is  sin — black  and  base ;  partly  it 
belongs  to  the  limitation  of  our  faculties ;  but  too  surely 
it  happens  that  '*  Eaten  bread  is  soon  forgotten."  We 
need  to  take  time,  like  David,  place  and  space,  in 
which  we  shall,  by  means  of  memory,  ransack  and  explore 
the  ways  of  our  God  to  our  own  selves,  and  thus  get  fuel 
to  put  on  the  fire  that  otherwise  begins  to  burn  itself  out 
even  in  redeemed  hearts.  *'  Forget  not  all  His  benefits." 
Oh,  how  many  of  us  must  charge  our  hearts  to-day  with  for- 
getfulness !  We  would  not  so  forget  what  any  human 
benefactor  had  done  for  us.  *'  How  sharper  than  a  serpent's 
tooth  it  is  to  have  a  thankless  child,"  and  God  has  many 
of  them,  and  some  of  them,  I  fear,  in  this  very  church 
this  morning.  And  the  reason  is  not  a  reason  of  desperate 
wickedness,  or  of  any  great  mahgnancy.  It  is  "Evil 
wrought  from  want  of  thought,  as  well  as  want  of  heart." 
We  do  not  remember.  Familiar  with  the  effect,  we  shght 
the  cause  ;  and,  in  the  constancy  of  God's  gifts,  think  it  is 
all  a  matter  of  the  "  reign  of  law,"  and  this  element  of 
throbbing  thankfulness  dies  down  in  the  human  heart. 
The  vox  Inmiana  stop  of  the  great  organ  of  Divine  praise 
gets  faint  and  uncertain  for  want  of  living  memory.     Now 


"  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME."  241 

I  ask  you  to  remember.  Kemember,  first  of  all,  thou  wast 
a  bondman  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  the  Lord  thy  God 
redeemed  thee.  Kemember  all  the  past  years  ;  let  memory 
bring  out  of  its  storehouse  all  your  former  blessings ; 
remember  that  you  are  a  miracle  of  mercy,  you  are  a 
monument  of  redeeming  grace.  Why  are  you  here  with  all 
things  as  they  are  round  about  you,  and  the  prospects  you 
have  ahead  of  you  ;  how  has  it  come  about  ?  God,  is  the 
explanation  ;  the  covenant,  is  the  explanation ;  the  eternal 
purpose  which  He  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  that  is 
the  explanation  of  thy  life,  with  all  its  blessedness  in  hand, 
and  its  infinite  blessedness  in  prospect,  through  the  ages  that 
are  to  come.  Oh  for  a  holy  memory  !  We  need  to  use 
memory  as  the  divers  use  the  diving-bell.  There  is  a  vessel 
which  has  gone  down  beneath  the  sea,  but  not  in  such  depths 
that  it  cannot  be  reached.  And  the  divers  come  ;  they  go 
down  into  the  dark,  sullen  waters  to  that  vessel,  and  they 
explore  the  hold,  and  fill  the  chains  with  whatever  they 
can  pile  into  them,  and  those  overhead  draw  them  up. 
Have  you  ever  been  there  ?  It  is  a  strange  experience  to 
be  on  board  a  pontoon  where  divers  are  working.  The 
diver  comes  with  all  his  peculiar  dress  ;  he  steps  on  to  the 
ladder  and  away  down  he  goes  completely  out  of  sight. 
And  I  cannot  express  how  your  flesh  begins  to  creep  as 
there  comes  up  there  from  beneath,  from  the  mysterious, 
from  the  hidden,  from  the  unknown,  up  there  comes  from 
his  hand  working  away  down  there  in  the  depths,  treasures 
which  were  sunken,  hidden,  in  one  sense  lost,  in  the  hold 
of  that  sunken  vessel.  And  you  i-emember  what  the  diver 
needs,  that  those  up  above  should  continually  send  down 
to  him  currents  and  streams  of  fresh  air.  Ah !  let  me  not 
recklessly  ask  you  to  remember.     Do  not  go  down  into  the 


242  "  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME." 

diving-bell  of  memory  unless  you  are  in  continual  com- 
munication with  the  fresh  "  caller  "  air  of  God's  grace  and 
mercy.  For  there  is  danger  down  there  ;  there  are  slimy 
things  away  down  there  in  the  depths,  bad  mephitic  odours. 
It  is  quite  safe,  it  is  grand,  it  is  helpful,  if  you  go  down 
carrying  the  upper  world  with  you — the  love  of  God 
and  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Then  remember 
even  the  darkest  scenes  through  which  you  have  passed. 
It  wall  not  harm  you,  it  will  "'beet'  the  heavenward 
flame."  To  "forget  nob  all  His  benefits"  is  part  of  the 
exercise  of  heaven.  That  is  why  I  call  for  it.  This  psalm 
has  got  to  be  sung  over  yonder  in  very  much  the  same  sub- 
stance by  the  Universal  Israel — all  the  people  of  God.  And 
it  is  time  therefore  we  got  ourselves  furnished  with  it  down 
here.  The  spring  is  to  be  a  living  purified  memory.  Even 
w4iile  I  am  speaking,  are  not  some  hearts  saying,  "  Well, 
but,  preacher,  shall  I  remember  yonder?"  Oh,  yes,  the 
alchemy  of  grace  will  work  that  for  us.  In  the  eternal 
glory  it  will  be  safe  and  good  for  us,  it  will  make  the  fire 
in  our  hearts  roar  like  the  blast  furnace  when  we  are  stirred 
up  with  "  the  long  pole  of  memory." 

'■  AVlifU  we  reach  our  (|uiet  dwelling 
On  the  strong  eternal  hills, 
And  our  songs  His  praise  are  telling 
AVho  the  whole  creation  fills — 

''  When  the  paths  of  prayer  and^duty 
And  repenting  all  are  trod, 
And  we  wake  up  in  the  beauty 
Ot  the  Holy  Lord  our  God  ; 

"  It  will  never  dim  the  brightness 
To  look  back  on  earth  from  heaven, 
It  will  never  mar  the  whiteness 
To  remember  sins  forgiven. 


"  I   FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME."  245 

"  AVitli  lifn's  fluttering  track  Ijeliiud  us, 
And  the  glory  stretching  round, 
Still  a  tender  link  sliall  bind  us 
To  the  hallowed  pilgrim  ground." 

And  that  link  is  memory.  Therefore  I  call  for  memory.  Go 
down,  down  beneath  the  sm-face ;  down  into  the  depths  of 
that  Lethean  stream,  that  forgetfulness,  at  the  bottom  of 
which  are  lying  whole  sunken  Argosies  of  Grace. 

And  now  notice  the  six  particulars  :  "  He  forgivetli  all 
thine  iniquities.  He  healeth  all  thy  diseases.  He  re- 
deemeth  thy  life  from  destruction.  He  crowneth  thee 
with  lovingkindness  and  tender  mercies.  He  satisfieth  thy 
mouth  with  good  things.  He  reneweth  thy  youth  like  the 
eagle's."  I  sometimes  like  to  put  it,  that  there  is  something 
here  for  every  day  next  week.  We  will  begin,  if  we  are 
spared,  to-morrow.  And  here  is  the  programme  for  Monday: 
"  He  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities."  That  will  take  you  the 
whole  of  Monday.  It  will  ?  Oh,  yes ;  the  whole  day 
Monday;  God  thinks  it  will.  "He  forgiveth  all  thine 
iniquities."  Tuesday:  "He  healeth  all  thy  diseases." 
That  will  take  a  full  winter  Tuesday  ;  though  some  of  you, 
perhaps,  think  you  will  run  done  in  ten  minutes,  if  you  don't 
fall  asleep.  It  will  take  a  good  day.  It  will  not  hinder 
your  clerking,  or  any  outward  work  ;  it  will  rather  help 
it  on  if  you  are  busy  the  whole  day  long  singing  this  psalm, 
"He  healeth  all  thy  diseases."  Wednesday:  "He  re- 
deemeth  thy  life  from  destruction."  A  grand  exercise  for 
the  middle  of  the  week,  half-way  away  from  last  Sabbath, 
and  only  half-way  on  to  the  Sabbath  coming.  "  Never 
fear,"  it  says,  "He  redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruction." 
Thursday  :  "  He  crowneth  thee  with  lovingkindness."  Try 
on  your  crown,  brother.     Doesn't  it  sit  softly,  and  fit  well 


244  "  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME." 

your  erewhile  dishonoured  head?  Friday:  "  He  satisfieth 
thy  mouth  with  good  things."  You  will  understand  that 
when  it  comes  the  length  of  Friday.  You  will  be  able  to 
look  back  through  the  week  and  say,  "  I  have  never  wanted 
since  Monday,  and  it  opened  pretty  darkly.  And  now  He 
has  done  so  much  for  me,  I  think  I  may  take  it  for  granted 
for  the  rest  of  the  week — "  He  satisfieth  thy  mouth  with 
good  things."  And  then  for  Saturday  :  **  He  reneweth  thy 
youth  like  the  eagle's."  The  ending  day,  the  Saturday,  with 
its  weariness,  is  God's  mending-day;  He  reneweth  thy 
soul  with  His  unwearied  strength.  An(3  then  slump  them 
altogether  on  the  Sabbath,  and  say,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my 
soul,  and  forget  not  all  His  benefits."  It  will  make  a 
round,  a  holy  glee,  one  part  chasing  the  other,  and  never 
after  overtaking  it — no  beginning  and  no  end,  but  delight- 
fully round  and  round,  singing  from  day  to  day  the  mercy 
of  the  Lord  our  God.  Verily,  the  children's  hymn  is  right 
— **  I  feel  like  singing  all  the  time." 

"He  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities."  My  friend,  it  is  put 
in  the  present  tense,  for  it  has  present  sense.  While  I  was 
speaking  of  me'  -)ry,  perhaps  too  much,  I  suggested  the  idea 
that  God's  bl  dings  lay  in  the  past.  There  is  not  one  of 
these  that  1^  ongs  to  the  past.  Our  text  does  not  read, 
"  Who  forg  ve  all  thine  iniquities."  That  would  hardly 
cause  rejoicing  in  the  hearts  gathered  here  to-day  ;  for  your 
sins  are  fresh  and  recent  upon  you,  and  God's  forgiveness 
had  need  to  be  as  fresh  and  recent  as  your  sin.  Here, 
where  we  sit,  and  as  we  are  gathered,  tell  me  the  date  on 
which  you  think  it  would  be  safe  for  God's  mercies  to 
expressed  to  you  in  the  past  tense,  as  being  finished.  I  do 
not  ever  want  this  word  here  below  to  be  but  as  it  is : 
"  Who  forgiveth  ;  who  forgiveth." 


"  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME."  245 

I  feel  inclined  to  come  to  you  this  morning  as  Moses 
came— only  without  Moses'  sinful  anger — and  say,  "  Listen, 
ye  rebels.  Listen,  listen  to  the  present  nearness  of  God's 
forgiving  love  to  sinners  such  as  we  are."  "  Who  forgiveth 
all  thine  iniquities."  All  of  them.  Not  a  few  of  the  biggest 
of  them,  the  roughest  of  them,  the  blackest  of  them,  the 
dirtiest  of  them,  but  them  all  :  and  not  tentatively  and  ex- 
perimentally, to  see  how  it  will  do  ;  but  in  the  largeness  and 
lavishness  of  His  boundless  love  and  mercy  forgiving  them 
all.  You  cannot  take  a  wife,  and  marry  her  for  a  week  or 
two,  to  see  how  she  and  you  will  suit.  It  is  **  for  better,  for 
worse  "  ;  no  parting.  So  God  in  His  grace  and  mercy  has 
taken  you  and  me — not  experimentally,  to  see  how  we  will  get. 
on  together.  But  knowing  what  we  are,  knowing  the  drain 
and  strain  we  shall  be  upon  Him,  He  has  run  the  risk.  He 
has  looked  upon  us  in  all  our  sin,  and  corruption,  and 
rebellion,  and  by  Himself  He  has  sworn ;  unto  Himself 
He  hath  said  it,  **  I  love  them,  and  I  will  never  leave  them, 
never  forsake  them.  Freely  will  I  forgive  them  all  their 
offences.  My  forgiving  love  shall  first  pardon,  and  finally 
extinguish  their  sin.  This  shall  be  My  name  and  memorial 
to  everlasting  days :  '  Who  is  a  God  like  unto  Thee ;  that 
pardoneth  iniquity ;  that  delighteth  in  mercy.'"  Aye,  He- 
forgives  thee  all  thine  iniquities.  Let  us  pause  for  a  moment 
that  the  meaning  of  it  may  get  into  our  dull  and  thankless 
hearts. 

'*  He  healeth  all  thy  diseases "  is  the  second  thing. 
Justification  is  in  the  one,  if  you  like  to  put  it  theologically ; 
and  sanctification  in  the  other.  He  has  pardoned  us,  but 
He  has  done  more  than  that :  He  has  come  to  sanctify  us, 
to  make  us  new  creatures,  obliterating  every  trace  of  sin ; 
and  that  is  coming  steadily  on  with  the  dawn  of  every  day. 


246  "  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME." 

That  is  present  also — the  persevering  persistent  energy  by 
which  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy 
Ghost  are  making,  or  is  making — for  He  is  but  one  God — 
out  of  the  wreck  He  took  in  hand  when  He  took  us  in 
hand,  a  holy,  perfect,  sinless,  human  soul.  But  still,  it  has 
a  natural,  physical  sense;  and  I  ask  some  of  you  to 
remember  the  sicknesses  God  has  taken  you  from.  I  ask 
you  to  remember  the  raging  fevers  that  cut  off  others, 
but  did  not  cut  off  you;  I  ask  you  to  remember  the 
galloping  consumptions  that  went  off  into  the  grave  with 
others,  and  you  were  spared  ;  I  ask  you  to  remember  how  to 
your  children  trouble  came,  and  your  children  still  survive. 
I  put  it  naturally,  temporally,  physically.  Of  course  it  has  a 
higher  and  a  farther-reaching  sense ;  but  alas  !  as  we  forget 
our  doctor,  so  we  forget  the  Great  Physician.  We  put  our 
fee  into  his  hand  and  bid  him  good-bye,  thankful  we  will 
see  him  no  more.  It  will  never  do  with  this  Physician ; 
you  need  Him  as  much  as  ever.  Do  not  misunderstand  Him 
when  He  calls  every  day,  for  it  will  be  a  dark  day  for  you 
and  me  when  the  heavenly  Physician  does  not  call.  And 
you  may  so  treat  Him  that  He  won't.  You  may  so  treat  Him 
that  He  will  leave  you  for  awhile,  and  then  when  old  sins 
and  lusts  come  back,  and  old  fires  and  fevers  burn  in  heart 
and  flesh,  then  you  will  be  brought  to  your  senses. 

May  it  not  be  so.  We  are  in  a  bettering  way,  and  that 
is  a  great  deal.  We  are  in  the  convalescent  ward  of  the 
infirmary.  And  oh,  how  well  we  look  !  How  well  we  are 
looked  after!  "He  healeth  all  thy  diseases."  See  the 
white  bed  He  has  made  for  you ;  see  the  nurses  attending 
you ;  taste  the  medicines  that  He  gives  you ;  see  the  ever- 
lasting arms  that  turn  you  in  your  sickness.  Were  you  ever 
very  sick  ?     Let  me  speak  to  some  of  the  strong  and  robust 


"  I    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME."  247 

among  you  ;  and  let  me  remind  others  to  rejnember  that, 
when  sick  and  helpless,  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  is  that 
a  strong  person  should  turn  you,  and  make  your  bed  for 
you.  Here  is  God,  the  Great  Physician,  Jehovah-Eophi,  the 
Lord  that  healeth  thee.  Again  I  ask  you,  remember  how  He 
has  laid  you  ;  see  how  beautifully  He  suggests  to  you  that 
your  case  is  inside  the  reach  of  His  skill  and  care.  I  do 
believe  He  will  cure  me.  Stretch  yourself  this  morning 
like  a  man  coming  out  of  a  delirium  or  wasting  sick- 
ness. Stretch  yourself ;  open  your  poor  eyes ;  see 
the  brilliant  light  coming  in,  and  say  to  yourself, 
"  I  am  going  to  live.  Bless  God,  I  am  going  to  live.  My 
spring  is  coming.  I  was  meant  for  death ;  I  was  meant  for 
destruction.  An  awful  venomous  poison  possessed  me,  I 
thought  I  was  gone ;  I  went  into  madness  and  delirium ; 
but  what  is  this  that  has  happened?"  A  friend  wrote  to 
me  the  other  day: — "After  I  left  you,"  he  said,  ''the 
other  evening,  down  in  the  Strand,  the  first  thing  I 
knew  was  that  I  was  lying  in  Charing  Cross  Hospital." 
And  the  devil  came  to  you  and  me  one  day,  he  leaped 
upon  us,  he  rent  us,  he  left  us  for  dead — and  he  made  a 
big  mistake.  The  first  thing  we  knew  was,  we  came  to  in 
the  heavenly  hospital,  lying  clean  and  white,  and  washed 
and  dressed,  and  all  bandaged  and  splinted,  and  angels, 
and  ministers  of  grace,  and  nurses  all  round  about  us ; 
ajicl,  I  do  believe,  we  are  going  to  get  better.  I  believe  we 
shall  yet  be  as  well  as  ever — we  shall  be  better  than 
ever  we  were.  I  believe  we  shall  get  out  of  this  con- 
valescent ward,  get  rid  of  the  splints  and  bandages, 
lay  aside  our  crutches,  and  make  a  pile  of  them  to  the 
honour  and  glory  of  Jehovah-Eophi.  I  beheve  we  shall 
step  out  into  the  streets  of  the  new  Jerusalem,  and  the 


248  "  1    FEEL    LIKE    SINGING    ALL    THE    TIME." 

angels  shall  gather  round  us,  I  had  almost  said  with  envy, 
and  say,  "  Who  are  ye?  Tell  us  your  tale."  And  we- tell 
them  our  tale.  As  the  soldier  bares  his  arms  and  shows 
the  scars,  and  is  not  ashamed.  Indeed,  his  eye  lightens, 
and  he  fights  his  battles  over  again  as  he  shows  his  wounds, 
now  glorifying  scars.  So  we,  when  God  has  healed  us,  the 
angels  will  gather  round  us,  and  things  about  us  that  would 
be  mars,  that  would  be  scars,  to  the  glory  and  praise  of  God's 
grace,  there  will  be  a  glittering  glory  about  them.  We  shall 
point  to  them  and  say,  "Angel,  that  was  a  lust."  They 
will  say,  "  A  what?  "  "  That  was  a  lust,  that  was  a  foul 
cancer,  a  corrupted  affection,  and  grace  has  made  it 
glorious."  Which  things  the  angels  will  desire  to  look 
into  ;  and  won't  we  let  them?  He  heals  my  diseases  ;  He 
makes  me  better  than  ever  I  was.  Praise  be  to  His  holy 
name.  There  will  be  something  left;  but  just  as  a  scar 
is  to  a  wound,  so  will  be  these  things  in  the  perfect  health 
of  the  days  that  are  to  come.  Oh  that,  even  now,  our 
health  might  spring  forth  speedily ;  meantime,  "  let  us 
hope  continually,  and  praise  Him  more  and  more."  "  It 
is  the  very  thing  the  doctor  ordered,"  as  they  used  to  say 
in  our  part  long  ago. 

But  my  time  is  gone.  You  will  need  to  do  as  I  told 
you,  and  take  up  these  notes  to-morrow  and  all  through 
the  week.  I  will  not  keep  you  longer,  as  I  have  a  some- 
what heavy  day  before  me. 

The  Lord  bless  His  Word,  and  to  His  name  be  all  the 
praise.     Amen. 


Henderson  &  Bpaldiug,  I'rinters,  3  <fc  6,  Marylebone  Lane,  Iiondon,  W. 


^t^mt  (Square  ful^jit. 


ISRAEL'S   KEEPER. 


Preached  in  Begent  Square  Presbyterian  Church, 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


Text— Psalm  cxxL 

What  great  peace,  what  great  power  would  come  into  all 
our  hearts  if  only  we  could  learn  by  heart  the  121st  Psalm. 
We  think  we  know  it.  We  know  the  words.  We  can 
chant  it  in  the  prose  version,  or  we  can  sing  it  in  the  Scotch 
metre  version.  We  can  go  through  the  form  of  it  with  the 
lip ;  but  we  alf  know  that  the  great  difficulty  is  to  learn  the 
tune  experime*ntally  and  spiritually.  The  great  tone  and 
music  of  the  Psalm  is  just  a  calm,  clear,  unshakable  confi- 
dence in  God.  The  key-note  of  the  Psalm  is  the  word 
"  keep "  or  **  keeper."  Unhappily,  our  version  in  the 
closing  verses  changes  the  one  unvarying  Hebrew  word 
"  keep  "  into  the  word  "  preserve  "  ;  but  the  Hebrew  runs 
right  through  on  the  one  note  all  the  time — "  Keep,  keep, 
keep,  keep."  "  The  Lord  shall  keep  thee  from  all  evil.  He 
shall  keep  thy  soul.  The  Lord  shall  keep  thy  goings  out 
and  thy  comings  in  from  this  time,  even  for  evermore." 
You  have  heard  of  the  man  who,  when  he  was  dying,  asked 
that  they  should  inscribe  upon  his  tombstone  just  one  word, 
and  that  one  word  was  not  his  name,  his  good  deeds,  or 
anything  about  him ;  but  over  the  anonymous  corpse  that 
lay  beneath  was  to  be  the  word  "  Kept."     It  was  a  stroke 

Vol.  III.— No.  17. 


250  iskael's  keeper. 

of  genius,  of  sacred  genius.  "  Kept."  That  will  do.  If  I 
live  until  I  am  ninety,  and  do  well  all  that  time,  when 
I  come  to  die,  put  me  down  in  my  grave,  and  only  put  that 
over  the  top  of  me,  and  I  will  be  full  content — "  Kept." 

See  how  the  Psalm  begins  :  "  I  will  lift  mine  eyes  unto 
the  hills,  from  whence  cometh  my  help.  My  help  cometh 
from  the  Lord,  who  made  heaven  and  earth."  There  is  a 
grand  utterance  of  a  believing  soul !  "I  will  lift  up  mine 
eyes."  Then  it  needs  plan,  and  purpose,  and  determination. 
You  will  not  get  this  splendid  grip  of  God,  and,  humanly 
speaking,  God  will  not  get  the  splendid  grip  of  you  that  He 
had  of  the  Psalmist,  unless  you  have  got  this  habit  of  deter- 
mination and  purpose  that  the  man  had  who  wrote  the 
Psalm. 

These  Psalms  are  called  "  Songs  of  Degrees,"  or  literally, 
"  Songs  of  Goings-up."  The  idea  on  the  part  of  many  is 
that,  whfen  the  Israelites  were  going  from  all  parts  of  the 
land  at  their  stated  seasons  up  to  Mount  Zion,  they 
gathered  into  little  bands.  Suppose  that  there  was  a 
great  temple  here  in  London,  and  only  one  temple,  and 
we  were  not  split  up  into  denominations  ;  aild  suppose  that 
once  or  twice  a  year,  by  the  command  of  God,  we  had  to 
come  up  to  worship  in  our  great  temple  here  in  London ; 
well,  you  know,  the  folks  from  the  far  country  would 
gather  together  at  some  place,  and  they  would  go  up 
together.  The  folks  from  the  Midlands  would  gather 
together ;  and  the  folks  away  at  Land's  End  in  Cornwall 
would  gather  together ;  and  they  would  all  be  converging 
into  county  groups  and  bands.  And  it  was  said  that  it 
was  then  that  they  sang  these  songs  of  degrees,  or  songs 
of  the  goings-up,  and  that  this  Psalm  was  used  when  they 
had  come  near  to  Jerusalem,  at  their  last  day's  journey,  and 
were  encamping  for  the  last  night.  Yonder,  away  in  the 
fading  light  were  Jerusalem  and  the  ridges  of  Mount  Zion ; 
and  while  the  people  stood  in  the  fading  light  watching 
the  hills  that  are  round  about  Jerusalem  before  they  turned 


ISRAEL'S   KEEPER.  261 

into  their  tents,  a  voice  would  cry  out,  ''  I  will  lift  up  mine 
eyes  unto  the  hills,  from  whence cometh  my  help";  and  the 
whole  company  would  break  out  at  different  places  into  the 
chanting  or  singing  of  this  121st  Psalm.  It  is  a  beautiful 
idea,  and  I  do  not  see  why  it  may  not  have  been  true.  The 
next  day  they  used  the  122nd  Psalm:  "Our  feet  shall 
stand  within  thy  gates,  O  Jerusalem."  So  you  see  we 
are  at  the  121st  Psalm,  all  of  us.  We  are  looking  to 
the  hills,  but  we  have  not  yet  reached  this  "  city  which 
hath  foundations,  whose  Builder  and  Maker  is  God." 
But  if  we  would  only  rub  our  eyes,  we  should  see  it  yonder 
on  the  horizon,  not  dimly,  not  a  phantom,  not  an  imagina- 
tion; but  yonder — yonder  in  the  distance — is  our  home, 
our  heaven,  our  true  Jerusalem,  that  needs  no  candle,  nor 
light  of  the  sun,  for  the  Lord  God  and  the  Lamb  are  the 
light  of  it.  And  to-night,  although  we  are  as  yet  a  day's 
march,  so  to  speak,  short  of  home,  not  yet  entered  in,  we 
encourage  ourselves  with  this  Pilgrim  Psalm.  We  are  as 
near  as  this  :  yonder  is  heaven,  yonder  on  the  hills.  I 
will  lift  up  mine  eyes  to  the  hillsj  and  bless  God  that  by 
to-morrow  my  soul  may  be  singing,  "  Our  feet  are  stand- 
ing within  thy  gates,  O  Jerusalem,"  my  tears  all  past,  my 
joy  for  ever  sure. 

Well,  then,  let  us  lift  up  our  eyes,  ''  Sursum  cor  da  " — lift 
up  your  hearts.  You  are  like  the  man  in  John  Bunyan, 
who  was  always  going  about  with  a  muck-rake,  working 
away  with  his  eyes  bent  down,  and  he  was  for  ever  raking 
straws  and  dirt.  You  are  like  Milton's  Mammon,  some  of 
you.  You  remember  how  Milton  has  described  Mammon. 
"  Mammon,"  he  says,  "  the  least-erected  spirit  that  fell 
from  heaven,"  always,  as  it  were,  naturally  ready  to  tumble 
down,  and  he  tumbled  down.  A  number  of  us  need  suffer 
this  word  of  exhortation.  Look  up  !  Look  up  !  Look  up  ! 
You  are  looking  far  too  much  down,  or  far  too  much  on  the 
dead  level  of  your  own  eyes ;  and  you  cannot  see  the  whole 
heaven  that  is  overspreading  and  overarching  even  yoU: 


252  Israel's  keeper. 

The  poorest  man  in  London  is  as  welcome  to  look  up  as  the 
richest,  and  he  is  just  as  able  to  do  it.  The  poorest  man  in 
London,  even  in  the  roar  and  din  and  hurly-burly  of  the 
London  streets,  can  lift  up  his  eyes,  and  his  heart  with  his 
eyes,  to  the  silence  that  is  in  the  starry  sky.  But  you  need  to 
do  it.  The  stars  will  not  come  to  us.  There  they  are  in  all  their 
majesty,  telUng  of  the  glory  of  God ;  but  we  have  to  lift  up 
our  eyes,  and  gaze  upon  the  stars,  and  greet  them,  and 
get  their  message.  And,  my  friend,  as  long  as  you  are  going 
to  give  in,  and  bow  your  head  like  the  bulrush,  and  refuse 
to  lift  up  your  soul  to  the  eternal  ranges  of  truth  and  help 
that  are  there,  you  will  never  be  a  bit  better  than  you  are, 
and  you  do  not  deserve  to  be.  How  many  people  are  ever 
sighing  and  moping  when  there  is  no  real  need  for  it.  It 
can  all  be  altered  ;  and  this  does  it :  "I  will  lift  up  mine 
eyes  unto  the  hills,  from  whence  cometh  my  help."  I  will 
do  it.  I  will  compel  my  soul  to  forget  the  things  of  time 
and  sense  that  are  round  about  me,  and  I  shall  look  up. 
You  have  heard  of  the  man  who  dreamed  that  he  had  fallen 
into  a  pit,  and,  when  he  was  lying  there  helpless,  he  thought 
that  he  saw  a  star,  and,  strange  to  say,  in  his  dream  as  he 
fastened  his  eyes  on  the  star  he  felt  himself  begin  to  rise, 
and,  whenever  that  star  got  dim  to  him,  down  he  came 
again.  That  is  wonderfully  like  the  Christian.  We  rise  by 
looking  up.  Look  up.  Keep  steadily  looking  up ;  and 
while  you  look  up  you  rise  and  rise  into  the  upper  air  and 
atmosphere  of  light,  and  purity,  and  peace.  But,  if  you 
keep  looking  round  about  and  keep  looking  in,  you  are  down, 
and  you  will  be  down. 

**  I  will  lift  up  mine  eyes  unto  the  hills."  There  is  some- 
thing in  the  hills.  We  who  belong  to  the  Highland  hills 
know  ivhat  preachers  of  sermons  the  hills  are.  When  we 
come  down  to  England  it  is  just  about  the  one  thing  we 
miss.  I  like  you  well.  I  like  your  town.  God  helping  me, 
I  mean  to  stay  here.  But  your  country  is  awfully  flat. 
This  is  one  of  its  great  drawbacks  to  me.     I  cannot  get  a 


Israel's  keeper.  253 

hill ;  the  most  of  them  I  seem  to  be  able  to  look 
over.  I  like  to  get  a  look  at  a  big  mountain.  Why, 
sometime  ago  I  was  travelling  in  a  train  away  there 
about  Cheshire  somewhere,  and  suddenly  outside  of  the 
carriage- window  I  saw  a  great  mountain,  and  I  gave  a  cry 
that  made  the  people  look  at  me.  I  suppose,  that  it  was 
Snowdon  away  in  the  distance,  and  I  could  not  refrain. 
What  a  sight !  What  a  power  these  hills  have  !  When 
I  was  at  Margate,  spending  eight  or  ten  days,  a  man  came 
up  to  me  who  had  known  me,  or  met  me  somewhere. 
He  was  a  Swiss,  and,  in  his  broken  English,  he  gave  me 
such  a  long  discourse,  putting  out  his  hands,  and  preaching 
with  his  fingers  and  his  legs  as  well  as  with  his  tongue, 
telling  me  about  the  Swiss  mountains,  and  how  the  Swiss 
mountains  told  upon  him  ;  and  he  could  never  stay  long 
here,  although  he  lives  here,  and  has  been  here  for  forty 
years,  and  has  picked  up  a  fortune  from  between  the  feet  of 
you  English  people.  He  has  been  here  forty  years,  and  he 
has  picked  up  a  fortune,  but  he  says,  **  Every  little  while 
I  must  go  back  to  those  hills."  He  feels  as  if  his  soul  would 
die  unless  he  got  away  into  some  Alpine  valley,  and  lost  him- 
self in  its  magnificence.  And  he  is  not  a  Christian.  No ; 
I  soon  found  him  out  there.  I  mentioned  the  121st  Psalm, 
and  I  said,  "Does  God  live  on  the  top  of  your  hills?" 
Ah  !  it  was  a  pity  that  he  was  not  a  Christian,  was  it  not  ? 
Eor,  after  all,  it  is  not  the  hills,  but  it  is  this  thought  that 
comes  along  with  them, 

"  Upon  the  hills  of  holiness 
He  His  foundation  sets." 

They  seem  to  lift  me  up  nearer  to  God,  and  bring  God 
nearer  to  me.  I  do  not  know  how  much  stimulus  I  got 
in  Edinburgh  from  them  when  I  was  studying  my  sermons 
on  the  Saturdays.  You  know,  I  am  not  a  methodical  man, 
any  way.  Maybe,  it  is  to  my  disadvantage  ;  but  I  was  not 
built  that  way  from  the  start.     I  was  always  harum-scarum. 


254  Israel's  keeper. 

Even  at  home,  when  I  was  a  boy,  I  never  could  be  taught 
to  put  a  thing  in  the  right  place  and  go  back  there  and  get 
it.  Well,  as  a  student  and  minister  I  have  been  very  much 
the  same.  At  all  events,  I  do  things  in  my  own  way  ;  and 
in  studying  my  sermons  at  Edinburgh,  I  was  not  sitting 
down  amid  books,  tearing  my  hair,  and  writing  things  on  a 
paper.  I  used  to  go  to  the  back  of  the  house,  where  I  could 
see  Arthur's  Seat,  a  hill  with  a  wonderful  resemblance  to  a 
great  lion.  I  have  been  out  there  Saturday  after  Saturday, 
with  my  head  as  empty  as  possible — and  you  know  how 
empty  your  head  can  be.  I  have  gone  out  there,  and  the 
hill  has  spoken  to  me.  When  I  got  nervous  and  timid 
under  the  influence  of  the  things  of  time,  I  used  to  get  out, 
and  there  was  the  great  big  Scottish  lion,  and  he  seemed  to 
look  over  at  me,  and  say,  **  Why,  you  are  shaking  again,  you 
are  troubled  again.  You  are  nervous  again.  Oh,  poor, 
poor,  little  creature!  Look  at  me.  See  how  the  winds 
have  blown,  and  the  rains  have  battered  against  me.  See 
how,  night  and  day,  and  years  through,  and  whole  centuries 
on  end,  I  have  borne  the  whole  stress  and  conflict  of  every 
kind  of  weather  and  vicissitude ;  and  here  I  am,  strong  and 
rooted,  stable  and  secure."  I  used  to  let  that  hill  talk  to 
me  after  that  fashion,  and  I  would  go  back  into  the  study, 
and  say,  **  The  hills  are  right ;  they  have  but  one  great, 
grand  message.  I  am  all  right,  too,  if  I  would  only  believe 
in  God  Almighty,"     "  As  the  mountains  stand  round  about 

Jerusalem,  so "     How  do  the  mountains  stand?    They 

stand  for  ever.  Men  live  and  wax  great  and  grow  old  and 
die,  but  the  mountains  there  are  the  same  as  ever.  So  the 
Lord  is  the  strength  of  His  people,  and  stands  round  about 
them  for  ever  and  for  ever.  Look  up  !  Lift  up  your  eyes 
to  the  hills. 

Again  :  Sometimes  I  went  out  to  my  back  green,  and 
Arthur's  Seat  was  not  there  :  the  hill  was  not  there. 
Why  ?  Well,  you  know  in  Edinburgh  there  are  mists.  A 
haze  comes  up  from  the  German  Ocean  beyond  from  Leith, 


Israel's  keeper.  255 

and  it  just  strikes  Arthur  Seat,  that  great  big  hill,  and  it 
coils  itself  round  about  its  head,  and  it  spreads  away  over 
its  great,  gigantic  sides ;  and  you  may  come  out,  and  there 
is  no  hill  there.  But  that  never  troubled  me.  I  looked 
there  and  did  not  see  it,  but  I  always  had  sense  enough  to 
understand  that,  although  for  the  minute  it  was  not  seen,  it 
was  in  below  that  veil  of  cloud.  It  was  there  as  green,  and 
solid,  and  big  as  ever.  So,  for  a  moment,  there  may  be 
clouds  between  ma  and  God.  But,  notwithstanding  the 
clouds,  I  know  that  He  is  there.  Now,  some  of  us  are  for- 
getting it.  Because  there  is  a  cloud  between  us,  we  forget 
that  God  is  there  below  the  cloud,  and  behind  the  cloud. 
It  is  a  mere  question  of  earth  and  time.  God  is  there,  as 
strong,  and  loving,  and  almighty  as  ever.  We  have  to  stay, 
and  strengthen,  and  counsel  our  hearts  in  Him.  Ah  !  it 
would  be  an  awful  thing  if  we  lifted  our  eyes  to  the  hills, 
and,  lo !  the  great  Grampians  were  gone.  What  a  sight 
that  would  be — gone,  not  merely  covered  with  clouds.  I 
wonder  whether  that  is  what  David  thought  when  he  penned 
the  second  verse.  He  is  a  step  higher  this  time  :  "  My  help 
Cometh  from  the  Lord,  who  made  heaven  and  earth."  Yes  ; 
I  am  not  mistaken.  Some  of  you  thought,  perhaps,  I  was 
mistaken  and  had  forgotten.  I  may  live  to  the  day,  and  so 
may  you — it  may  be  to-morrow  morning,  or  it  may  be  before 
we  sleep — when  the  mountains  shall  depart,  and  the  hills 
be  removed,  and  all  this  world  pass  away  like  a  flaming 
scroll.  And  where  then  will  be  our  help  in  that  day  when 
the  mountains  stagger  and  reel  like  drunken  men  ?  David 
seems  almost  to  have  thought  of  that,  and  he  says  in  the 
second  verse,  "  My  help  in  that  awful  hour  will  be  where 
it  always  was.  In  that  rocking,  reeling,  tremendous  hour  I 
shall  be  as  stable,  and  calm,  and  steadfast  as  ever  I  was. 
My  help  cometh  from  the  Lord,  who  made  heaven  and 
earth."  From  no  created  source  did  the  Psalmist's  strength 
come,  but  from  God,  the  ever-flowing  fountain.  Oh,  my 
hearer,  let  me  press  it  upon  you.     Where  is  your  strength? 


256  Israel's  keeper. 

Where  is  your  light  ?  Where  is  your  joy  ?  If  it  is  only  in 
earth  and  time,  and  the  things  of  earth  and  time,  is  it  any 
wonder  that  Hfe  is  so  up  and  down  as  it  is?  If 
you  would  know  what  it  is  to  be  strong  and  stead- 
fast in  the  midst  of  the  chances  and  changes  of  this  earthly 
scene,  begin  to-night  to  be  a  true  Christian.  Then 
your  soul  is  drinking  from  a  source  that  can  never,  never, 
to  eternity's  end,  run  dry.  "  My  help  cometh  from  the 
Lord,  which  made  heaven  and  earth."  It  is  easy  to  say. 
How  many  of  us  will  be  the  better  for  it  to-morrow,  or  as 
we  go  home  to-night  ?  All  creation,  every  created  being,  is 
simply  another  certificate  to  you  of  the  presence  and  power 
of  your  redeemer  God,  the  very  firmness  of  the  road  beneath 
you  being  but  a  parable  of  the  splendid  firmness  of  the  hand 
that  for  ever  will  uphold  you.  That  is  the  use  to  make  of 
nature. 

"  He  will  not  suffer  thy  foot  to  be  moved :  He  that 
keepeth  thee  will  not  slumber."  I  wonder  whether  the 
Psalmist  is  still  thinking  of  mountains  and  mountain- 
climbing.  "  He  will  not  suffer  thy  foot  to  be  moved." 
Any  of  you  who  have  tried  to  climb  the  hills  know  that 
that  is  just  the  great  danger  of  it.  One  slip,  and  you  may 
go  sheer  down  hundreds  of  feet,  and  be  dashed  to  pieces. 
Do  we  not  use  this  expression  to  cover  the  idea  of  safety  ? 
We  talk  about  the  "sure-footed"  guide,  and  the  "sure- 
footed "  mountaineer,  the  man  of  keen  eye  and  cool  nerve, 
and  of  muscles  like  iron  all  over  his  body  ;  a  man  who  can 
be  depended  on.  If  he  gets  a  foothold  for  his  foot,  he  will 
put  his  foot  there,  and  keep  it  there,  until  he  gets  another 
as  good.  So  is  the  Christian.  Why,  in  one  sense,  we  are 
engaged  in  a  perilous  journey.  We  are  going  up.  We  are 
climbing.  To  brace  yourself  to  climb  the  Matterhorn  is  a 
small  thing  compared  with  this  girding  of  your  mind  to  be 
sober  and  climbing  right  up  from  hell  to  heaven.  And  that 
is  the  climb  for  every  one  of  us.  And  I  think  that  it  was 
out  of  that  idea  of  hill-climbing  that  David  brings  in  this 


Israel's  keeper.  257 

expression  :    "  The  Lord   shall   not  suffer  thy  foot  to  be 
moved." 

Have  you  only  gained  one  step  up,  my  brother  ?  God 
will  keep  you  upon  it.  You  will  not  lose  that.  Depend 
upon  it  and  try  another.  **  Oh,"  you  say,  **  I  am — I  am  so 
nervous.  What,  if  trying  to  make  another  step,  I  should 
slip  ?  "  Do  not  be  afraid.  Aim  at  the  heights  in  holiness. 
Aim  at  big  things  in  holiness.  Aim,  man,  at  going  up,  and 
up,  and  up.  Aim  at  rising  above  this  London  and  its 
streets  crammed  with  harlots.  Aim  at  getting  up  and  up, 
until  all  that  kind  of  thing  is  like  so  many  crawling  black 
motes — nothing  to  you  because  you  are  so  far  up  above  it. 
Do  not  be  afraid  of  falling  down.  God  is  able  to  make  you 
stand.  Trust  Him  for  your  climbing.  He  is  the  great 
CUmber.  He  will  go  with  you.  Li  Alpine  climbing  one 
of  the  helps  is,  as  you  know,  that  all  the  climbers  are  tied 
together.  The  guide  has  a  rope  round  his  waist,  and  that 
rope  is  passed  down,  and  down,  and  down,  and  put  round  the 
different  members  of  the  party.  That  is  one  of  the  helps, 
and  it  is  one  of  the  dangers.  Did  we  not  read  not  long 
ago,  concerning  a  climbing  party  with  one  of  the  most 
experienced  guides,  that  one  of  the  party  made  a 
bad  step  and  fell,  and  dragged  the  next  with  him? 
The  poor  guide  knew  what  was  happening.  The  rope  did 
not  break;  that  would  have  saved  some  of  them;  and, 
therefore,  wildly  he  stemmed  his  foot  before  him,  but  it 
was  all  in  vain.  The  dead  weight  hurled  him  and  all  of 
them  over.  So  perish  none  who  climb  for  holiness  and 
heaven.  With  God  as  the  Keeper  of  their  feet  that  can 
never  happen.  Even  when  my  feet  do  slip,  the  rope  binds 
me  to  my  Guide.  I  slip  and  sprawl ;  yea,  and  sometimes 
my  Guide  allows  me  even  to  go  over  the  precipice,  to  sober 
me,  to  cool  me,  and  to  take  the  "swagger"  and  the 
"bounce"  from  me;  but  He  is  there,  and  He  holds  me, 
and  He  draws  me  back  from  the  jaws  of  destruction,  and 
sets  me  on  the  mountain  side  again.     "  My  foot  standeth 


i^58  Israel's  keeper. 

in  an  even  place,"  said  the  Psalmist  on  another  occasion. 
**  He  will  not  suffer  thy  foot  to  be  moved." 

What  great  strength  this  gives  us.  To  change  the  figure 
a  little,  we  have  a  tremendous  conflict.  A  great  many- 
hands  are  against  us ;  and  you  say — you  use  the  phrase 
yourself — "I  am  going  to  put  my  foot  down."  Well,  I  wish 
you  would,  for  it  is  high  time,  if  you  have  got  one,  that 
you  did  put  it  down,  and  that  you  put  it  down  with  some 
emphasis.  Many  a  man  puts  his  foot  down,  and  it  does 
not  stay  long.  He  is  driven  back.  The  odds  against  him 
are  too  strong.  Not  so  with  the  one  who  makes  God  his 
help.  God  will  strengthen  you,  and,  although  all  the  powers 
of  hell  and  darkness  may  come  against  you,  the  devil  will 
dash  against  you  in  vain,  and  he  will  have  to  say  at  the 
end  of  the  day,  "  I  never  drove  him  back  from  his  foothold 
an  inch.  How  often  have  I  risen  at  these  believers,  and  I 
have  railed  at  them,  and  I  have  dashed  myself  against 
them,  only  to  find  that  there  is  in  them,  with  all  their 
weakness,  something  of  the  adamantine  strength  of  the 
Son  of  God  whom  I  also  tried,  but  never  could  make  to 
yield.  They  are  all  like  Him.  I  cannot  bear  them  down." 
Now,  we  are  all  like  Him  if  we  are  His.  If  we  are  living 
by  spiritual  methods,  faith,  and  prayer,  and  the  promises, 
there  is  in  us  the  strength  of  the  Kock  of  Ages  Himself. 
••  He  will  not  suffer  thy  foot  to  be  moved."  God  stands 
behind  us,  and  God's  own  honour  is  engaged  in  it,  and 
God  Himself  seems  to  say,  **  Must  My  people  for  ever  be 
made  a  very  football  for  the  world,  and  the  devil,  and  the 
flesh  ?  It  cannot  be,  and  it  shall  not  be.  I  will  strengthen 
thee,  I  will  uphold  thee  with  the  right  hand  of  My 
righteousness." 

And  then  the  Psalmist  sings,  "  He  that  keepeth  thee  shall 
not  slumber.  Behold,  He  that  keepeth  Israel  shall  neither 
slumber  nor  sleep."  The  figure  changes  a  little.  The 
Psalmist  has  no  strict  logical  plan  for  his  Psalm,  but  still 
his  soul  is  filled  with  this  blessed  idea — this  twofold  idea — 


Israel's  keeper.  259 

"  My  God  and  me."  It  is  as  you  have  it  in  the  23rd  Psalm  : 
"  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd  ;  /  shall  not  want.  He  maketh 
me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures  :  He  leadeth  me  beside  the 
still  waters.  He  restoreth  my  soul :  He  leadeth  me  in  the 
paths  of  righteousness  for  His  name's  sake."  God  and  me. 
God  and  my  soul;  and,  working  on  that  line,  He  says,  "  I 
am  always  safe ;  I  am  always  sure ;  for  He  that  keeps  me 
never  slumbers  nor  sleeps." 

That  is  a  familiar  Bible  idea.  I  do  not  know  whether 
the  healthy  people  just  realize  the  comfort  of  this.  You 
will  pardon  me  for  illustrating  things  so  often  by  my 
mother.  I  am  her  son,  and  it  is  legitimate  in  a  son  to  do 
this,  is  it  not  ?  May  your  son  live  to  do  the  same  for  you. 
My  mother  was  weak,  and  many  a  long  day  and  many  a 
longer  night  she  was  ill,  and  sometimes  we  had  to  sit  up 
with  her.  You  know  what  happens  when  you  are  sitting 
up  with  your  mother.  You  are  strong  and  healthy,  and  it  is 
the  time  of  sleep ;  and  I  can  remember  yet  how  she  used 
to  waken  when  I  would  be  sitting  by  the  bedside,  or  half- 
lying  alongside  of  her,  and  clutch  me  by  the  arm,  and 
say,  **  Johnny,  don't  sleep ;  don't  sleep."  You  know 
what  that  is :  "  Keep  awake.  Speak  to  me."  You 
know  that  awful  nervousness  that  comes  to  people :  '*  Do 
not  sleep ;  do  not  sleep."  The  fact  that  you  are 
waking  gives  them  their  only  chance  of  sleeping,  and  if 
they  wake  and  start  and  find  you  sleeping,  all  their  terrors 
rush  in  upon  them.  Well,  that  is  a  terror  which  the 
Chri^ian  never  need  have.  You  may  go  anywhere,  high 
or  low,  rough  or  smooth,  dark  or  bright,  and  no  such  fear 
need  ever  invade  your  soul.  God  is  with  you  night  and 
day,  sleeping  or  waking,  on  sea  or  land.  There  He  is, 
never  drowsy,  never  heavy,  never  wearied  of  watching 
you,  never  saying,  "  You  must  try  to  go  along  by  yourself 
now."  He  that  keepeth  thee  will  never  slumber  nor  sleep. 
There  is  a  great  strength  in  it.  How  God  must  love 
us,  and  how  tender  must  be  the  tie  between  us  and  Him. 


260  Israel's  keeper. 

All  through  the  night  He  is  there  watching  our  every 
breath,  and  seeing  how  we  start,  and  putting  His  hand  upon 
ours,  saying,  "Lie  still,  my  child.  Hush."  It  is  a  trying 
business.  Whatever  do  those  children  of  ours  start  up 
and  cry  for  ?  What,  in  all  the  world,  is  wrong  with  them  ? 
And  how  often  have  I  reasoned  and  expostulated  with 
mine,  **  Lie  still !  "  I  have  gone  and  done  everything  for 
them ;  and  what  a  great  reward  you  get  when,  at  last,  the 
little  mite  stops  its  yelling,  and  looks  up  with  a  little  smile 
and  falls  off  to  sleep.  I  think  that  some  of  us  might  give  God 
that  satisfaction,  might  we  not  ?  He  has  been  standing  a 
long  while  over  you,  and  watching  you,  and  saying,  "  Peace, 
peace."  Now,  do  not  be  frightened,  some  of  you  grey-haired 
people — frightened  about  your  son,  frightened  about  your 
daughter,  nervousness  for  ever  getting  up  in  you,  and  the 
distrust  for  ever  crying  out.  God,  with  His  fatherly  hand, 
like  a  nursing  father  or  a  nursing  mother  (according  to  the 
words  He  used  in  Isaiah),  is  patting  you  on  the  shoulder, 
and  coming  close  to  you,  and  saying,  "  Hush,  now  !  Be 
quiet !  There  is  no  fear.  Leave  all  that  to  Me."  That  is 
God  by  night :  His  presence  is  our  night-light. 

And  then  the  next  verse  refers  to  God  during  the  day. 
For,  oh,  my  friend,  when  we  get  out  during  the  day,  and  go 
down  to  the  town  there,  and  go  about  our  daily  business, 
we  are  apt  to  think  :  Now,  we  do  not  need  all  that  our 
Minister  has  been  preaching  to  us  about — God's  care,  and 
God's  keeping,  and  God  being  our  nursing  Father.  During 
the  day  we  will  kind  of  'forge  ahead'  without  Him." 
Nay;  do  not  make  that  mistake,  for  you  will  not.  Let 
God  be  your  Keeper  down  in  business  there.  I  speak  to 
you  business  men.  Suffer  the  word  of  exhortation.  On 
some  grounds  I  have  no  right  to  speak  to  you.  I  stand 
here  and  speak  for  God,  and  say,  when  you  go  back  to  the 
office,  before  you  take  that  budget  of  letters  and  open  them, 
look  up  to  God,  and  say,  '*  Now,  Thou  art  to  help  me  here — 
here  among  these  papers,  and  manuscripts,  and  these  clerks, 


isbael's  keeper.  261 

and  this  business  ot  per  cents,  and  I  do  not  know  what  all." 
Ay,  they  are  dangerous  things — "per  cents."  Oh,  Heaven 
help  you  !  You  need  God  among  the  ^Jer  cents.  You  will 
lose  your  soul  among  the  2^(^^  cents  and  the  ledgers. 
Kemember  the  overshadowing  Presence,  and,  while  it  keeps 
you,  may  it  also  sanctify  you.  '*  The  Lord  is  thy  shade 
upon  thy  right  hand.  The  sun  shall  not  smite  thee  by 
day,  nor  the  moon  by  night."  Travellers  in  tropical  coun- 
tries know  the  great  danger  from  a  stroke  of  the  sun,  or  a 
stroke  of  the  moon,  or  from  lying  out  at  night  in  the  mists 
and  the  damps.  All  the  dangers  of  the  way  are  met  and 
forestalled  by  this  great  and  mighty  Keeper  of  His  people. 
What  a  wonderful  people  we  are.  All  the  day  long,  and 
all  the  night  through,  God  is  marking  the  very  hours. 
Every  tick  of  the  clock  "prompts  with  remembrance  of  a 
present  God."  The  Lord's  attentions  to  us,  that  is  to  say, 
are  as  delicate  as  they  are  mighty.  He  can  m^ke  Himself 
as  a  shade,  a  veil,  a  screen  to  us.  He  is  not  only  a  Eock 
for  strength.  He  is  also  the  Shadow  cast  by  "  a  great  rock 
in  a  weary  land."  **  He  tempers  the  deceitful  ray  "  of  sun 
and  moon. 

And,  last  of  all,  the  "keeps"  come  in  again.  "The 
Lord  shall  keep  thee  from  all  evil.  He  shall  keep  thy 
soul.  The  Lord  shall  keep  thy  going  out  and  thy  com- 
ing in  from  this  time  forth,  even  for  evermore."  Now, 
I  want  to  apply  this  before  I  close  the  Bible.  I  know 
that  my  thinking  is  just  of  the  commonest.  I  could  not 
improve  upon  this.  All  that  I  hoped  for  was  that  we  might 
get  the  music  of  this  Psalm  a  little  more  into  our  hearts, 
and  get  to  believe  it.  "  The  Lord  shall  keep  thy  soul." 
My  friend,  how  is  it  with  your  soul  ?  You  are  very  anxious 
about  your  body.  Whenever  anything  troubles  you,  off  you 
go  to  the  doctor,  and  you  say,  "  My  medical  man."  You  have 
got  a  man  whom  you  call  your  "  keeper  "  in  the  medical  sense. 
And  you  have  insured  your  house  and  your  furniture,  being 
anxious  that  they  should  be  kept  from  danger  and  from 


262  Israel's  keeper. 

accident,  and  you  from  any  loss  thereby.  Now,  my  friend, 
listen :  Is  it  possible  that  there  is  anybody  here  who  has 
shown  no  corresponding  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  his  soul? 
Did  it  never  occur  to  you  what  blatant  folly  it  is  ?  You 
have  actually  insured  your  life  and  insured  your  furniture, 
and  you  shut  up  and  lock  the  house  at  night ;  but  your 
soul — the  marauders  may  come  in  and  pillage  the  very  heart 
of  you.  Are  you  paying  no  attention  to  the  safety  and 
preservation  of  your  immortal  soul  ? 

But  can  my  soul  be  kept  ?  "  The  Lord  shall  preserve  " — 
"The  Lord  shall  preserve  thy  soul."  Yes,  it  can  be  kept. 
*'. Hallelujah!  what  a  Saviour!"  The  longer  I  live,  the 
greater  is  my  fear.  People  say  that  we  go  shivering,  and 
talking  selfishly  about  "  our  souls,"  and  that  what  we 
ought  to  be  doing  is  not  to  be  paying  so  much  selfish  atten- 
tion to  our  **  wretched  soul,"  but  go  and  do  some  good  tc 
some  other  body.  That  is  true,  but  it  is  only  half  of  tho 
truth.  I  am  getting  more  concerned,  on  certain  grounds, 
the  longer  I  live,  and  I  am  as  good  as  you  outwardly.  But 
the  longer  I  live  in  London,  the  longer  I  live  in  the  world, 
the  more  I  see  many  reasons  why  I  should  be  very  appre- 
hensive just  about  my  soul.  What  if  I  slip,  and  go  down, 
and  come  to  eternal  desolation  ?  I  am  discovering  every 
day  the  great  chasms,  and  deeps,  and  pits  of  corruption 
that  are  in  me,  and  the  great  pits,  and  chasms,  and  deeps,  and 
floods  of  temptation  that  are  outside  of  me.  And,  my 
brother,  in  those  awful  hours,  when  deep  calleth  unto  deep, 
when  the  deep  of  sin  out  there  calls  to  the  deep  of  sin 
within  you,  then  that  one  clause  of  our  Psalm  is  worth 
worlds  to  you,  *'  The  Lord  shall  keep  thy  soul." 

And  He  will  need  to  do  it.  Here  stands  a  man  who  will 
go  to  the  devil  if  God  is  not  the  Keeper  of  the  soul ;  and 
yet,  I  say,  outwardly,  I  am  as  good  as  you.  But  I  am 
your  preacher,  and  I  am  here  to  declare  the  things  of  God 
in  God's  name ;  and  to  turn  myself  sometimes  inside  out, 
that  I  may  preach  to  you.     It  is  our  hope  that  we  shall  not 


Israel's  keeper.  263 

go  to  the  devil,  neither  minister  nor  man.  We  will  all  go 
home  to  God,  and  be  with  Him  for  ever  and  ever.  "The 
Lord  shall  preserve  thy  soul."  Hear  it,  O  world  !  Hear 
it,  O  devil !  Hear  it,  O  hell !  Thou  hast  lost  us  for  ever ! 
"  The  Lord  shall  keep  thy  going  out  and  thy  coming  in 
from  this  time  forth"  —  (thirty-one  minutes  past  eight 
o'clock),  *'  even  for  evermore."  Enter  into  covenant  with 
Him.  Make  Him  as  good  as  His  Word.  Put  Him  to  the 
proof.  Can  He?  Will  He?  "The  proof  of  the  pudding 
is  the  eating  of  it."  Try  it.  Test  it.  Trust  Him  hard. 
Trust  Him  absolutely. 

Then,  if  all  the  souls  here  believe  in  such  a  God  as  that, 
I  might  as  well  just  lean  down  and  shake  hands  with 
you,  and  say,  "  Good-night,  my  brother,  we  are  bound  to 
meet  at  heaven's  gate."  It  is  a  plain  inference  from  that, 
if  God's  words  mean  what  a  man's  words  would  mean, 
"  I  will  keep  ;  I  will  be  the  source  of  your  perseverance  to 
the  end.  Therefore,  you  cannot,  and  shall  not,  fail,  from 
this  time  forth,  even  for  evermore."  I  am  not  forgetting 
that  we  have  to  play  our  part ;  but  I  am  trying  to  bring  in 
God  great,  and  big,  and  broad,  and  visible,  for  we  need  to 
see  Him.  Let  us  be  done,  then,  to-night  with  all  shaking 
and  all  uncertainty.  Let  us  be  like  that  poor  "  darkey  "  who 
met  his  minister  one  day,  and  said,  "  Minister,  it  is  all  right 
now."  "  What  is  all  right.  Sambo?"  said  the  minister. 
"  Well,  minister,"  he  said,  in  his  broken  English,  **  I  have 
got  past  the  go-back  corner."  He  had  always  come,  as  it 
were,  for  a  certain  length,  and  then,  just  like  some  of  you, 
he  had  stuck  there.  He  had  halted  there  and  hesitated 
there,  at  a  kind  of  half-way  house,  never  being  able  to  lay 
right  hold  on  God  by  simple  faith.  "  Now,  minister,"  he 
said,  "  I  have  got  past  the  go-back  corner,  and  I  am  going 
all  the  journey  home."  You  have  come  right  up  to  that 
corner  to-day.  Now,  get  round  it,  get  past  "  the  go-back 
corner,"  and  we  will  all  go  in  God's  company  all  the 
journey  home.     And   the  negro   went   on   to   say,  in   his 


264  ISBAEIi's   KEBPEK. 

broken  way,  "  Minister,  if  you  do  not  find  me  up  at  one  of 
those  twelve  gates,  go  round  to  the  others,  and  I  will  be 
bound  to  be  there  at  one  gate  or  the  other."  We  are  bound 
to  turn  up  and  answer  to  our  name.  If  we  give  ourselves  to 
Him,  the  contract  is,  ''  From  henceforth,  even  for  ever- 
more." "I  give  unto  them  eternal  life,  and  they  shall 
never  perish,  neither  shall  any  man  pluck  them  out  of  My 
hand."  Amen,  and  amen.  Good  night.  We  shall  meet 
up  yonder. 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


ilejgent  §qmxt  fwl^jit, 


"PEAY  WITHOUT  CEASING.' 


Preached  in  Regent  Square  Chubch, 
ON  Sabbath  Morning,  March  8th,  1891, 


REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


Text— Luke  xviii.  1-7. 
You  will  be  indulgent  with  me  this  morning.  After  over 
ten  days  of  preaching  in  Birmingham  and  district  twice  a 
day,  I  feel  rather  spent.  I  might,  perhaps,  have  rested 
to-day ;  but  I  knew  you  would  be  indulgent,  so  I  thought 
I  should  enjoy  myself  better  in  my  own  pulpit  than  any- 
where else. 

We  might  begin  at  the  very  outside  of  this  theme  ;  pausing 
for  a  moment  to  look  at  what  we  might  call  the  riskiness — 
at  any  rate,  the  grotesqueness — of  this  illustration.  I  am 
sure  there  is  no  preacher  or  teacher  in  larger  or  more 
humbler  ways  who  has  not  been  thankful  for  that  indica- 
tion of  the  workings  of  His  own  mind,  which  the  Great 
Teacher  gave  us  when  He  said,  "  Whereunto  shall  I  liken 
it?  "  He,  lifting  the  curtain,  and  letting  us  see  that  His 
mind  ran  out  in  that  direction — **  What  is  it  like?  lam 
filled  with  the  idea,  the  warmth,  the  luminousness.  Now, 
where  can  I  get  a  window  by  which  it  can  stream  out  from 
Me,  and  into  the  minds  of  My  hearers  ?  " 

Vol.  III.— No.  IS. 


266  "  PRAY   WITHOUT   CEASING." 

And  our  Lord,  in  this  raatter  of  illustrating,  seems  to 
have  taken  anything  that  lay  to  hand.  He  was  never 
afraid  of  falling  from  the  subHme  to  the  ridiculous.  He 
was  never  afraid  of  being  grotesque;  He  was  so  much  all 
aglow  with  earnestness  to  impart  what  He  felt  and  knew, 
that  that  trouble  which  often  seizes  us  did  not  come  to  Him. 
Of  course,  I  am  not  forgetting  His  divinity;  but  I  am 
speaking  of  Him  as  being  what  Nicodemus  said,  **  A 
Teacher  sent  from  God."  Now,  I  rather  think  if  I  had 
given  this  illustration ;  if  I  had  come  this  morning,  as  I 
do  come,  burdened,  to  unburden  myself  on  the  great  theme 
of  " Prevailing  prayer  before  God";  and  if  I  had  illustrated 
it  by  showing  how  an  utterly  godless  rascal  of  a  judge  can 
be  worried,  and  wearied,  and  badgered  into  yielding  the 
petition  of  a  widow  simply  by  means  of  her  importunity, 
her  audacity,  her  shamelessness,  you  might  have  said, 
"  Well,  but  isn't  the  illustration  beneath  the  dignity  of 
the  subject?"  But,  then,  it  is  the  Master's  own 
illustration.  If  I  had  been  wanting  to  unburden  myself 
about  God's  Providence,  and  had  said,  "  Last  week  I  was 
passing  a  barn-door,  and  heard  a  hen  calling  to  her  brood, 
for  a  dog  was  near,  and  they  ran  and  nestled  under  her 
wings ;  and  that  is  like  Providence :  "  Even  as  a  hen 
gathereth  her  brood  under  her  wings,  so  God  wants  to 
gather  us,  and  defend  us."  You  might  have  said  again, 
"  Are  not  these  farmyard  illustrations  a  little  beneath  the 
dignity  of  the  subject  ?  "    But  the  Master  thinks  not. 

"  In  common  things  that  round  Him  lay, 
Some  random  truths  He  did  impart." 

The  **  harvest  of  a  quiet  eye  "  was  always  His  ;  and  all 
round  about  He  found  things  that  "  prompted  with  remem- 
brance of  a  present  God,"  which  leads  me  at  the  outset  to 


"PRAY  WITHOUT  CEASING."  267 

say,  before  we  go  deeper  in— I  have  no  right  to  speak  to 
preachers,  for  I  am  less  than  the  least  of  them  ;  but  I 
may  say  a  word  about  methods  to  Sabbath-school  teachers: 
don't  spend  much  money  on  books  of  illustrations.  I 
mention  that,  because  I  have  wasted  money  in  that  direc- 
tion myself.  Only  the  other  day,  I  bought  a  bulky  and 
imposing  volume  on  "  Illustrations  of  Scripture  Truth  from 
Scientific  Teaching."  Well,  I  have  no  objection  to  science, 
or  to  illustrations  either ;  but,  after  this,  I  am  going  to  do 
my  own  illustrating;  or,  I  will  get  the  science  in  one 
book  and  the  Scripture  teaching  in  another,  and  mix  them 
myself  for  my  own  purposes.  The  Lord  Himself  endow 
us  with  the  seeing  eye  and  the  hearing  ear !  Down  in  the 
City,  on  the  top  of  the  'bus,  in  the  tramcar,  and  even — 
and  it's  surely  the  utmost  verge — even  in  the  underground 
railway.  He  will  give  you  such  an  eye  and  ear  that  you 
will  see  and  hear  things  that  will  be  "Hkes,"  illustra- 
tions; in  some  point  or  points  accurate  enough,  close- 
fitting  enough  to  let  in  beams  of  light  on  great  and 
eternal  themes.  My  brother  and  sister,  be  less  con- 
cerned about  "grand"  illustrations.  I  was  brought  up  in 
that  grand  old  Church — the  Free  Church  of  Scotland — 
when  I  say  old,  I  refer  to  its  sjnrit,  for  it  is  only 
since  1843  in  actual  years,  but  its  spirit  dates  from 
any  time  since  the  deliverance  from  Egypt.  I  think 
the  preaching  was  a  little  spoiled  by  what  were,  no 
doubt,  considered  grand  illustrations.  They  were  mostly 
drawn  from  the  classics.  It  got  to  be  a  hackneyed  phrase 
in  the  ears  of  us  lads  — "  You  remember  in  Classic 
story."  We  had  never  heard  of  it  before,  so  we  could  not 
possibly  remember  it.  But  it  was  a  fine,  pompous,  learned- 
looking   way   of   putting   things.     Then   there  was  not  so 


268  "pray  without  ceasing." 

much  in  them  after  all.  I  remember  my  father  saying  to 
me,  after  a  preacher  had  begun  in  that  way,  **  Let  me  re- 
mind you  what  Horace  said  so  beautifully";  and,  of  course, 
he  quoted  it  in  Latin,  for  he  was  an  M.A.  of  Oxford,  and 
had  to  justify  his  degree,  and  again  he  "  reminded  "  us  of 
the  translation.  My  father  said,  "  But,  John,  there  wasn't 
much  in  it,  in  any  Imiguage !"     Nor  was  there. 

Let  us  come  nearer  home,  and  find  "  Horace  in  Home- 
spun." Remember  Him  who,  when  He  saw  a  sower  sowing 
seed  and  the  birds  coming  down  and  taking  away  what  fell 
on  the  path,  said,  "  I  am  sowing  seed  every  day,  and  the 
fowls  of  the  air  pick  it  up." 

Well,  here  is  a  great  theme,  and  the  Lord  says  :  This  is 
what  it  is  like ;  or  rather,  in  some  ways,  what  it  is  not  like ; 
for,  of  course,  it  is  an  illustration  not  by  comparison,  but  by 
contrast.  The  two  things  are  set  together,  and  we  are 
asked  to  look  at  them  to  see  where  they  oppose  each  other, 
where  they  stand  out  in  sharp  contradistinction.  For  us,  this 
illustration  I  think  is  most  pathetic  and  powerful.  The 
Lord  seems  to  have  had  His  eye  on  us.  He  looked  away 
down  the  ages  that  were  coming,  when  the  tug  and  stress 
of  faith  in  the  invisible  God  and  the  invisible  Christ, 
and  the  Promise  of  Final  Victory  that  seemed  to  be  always 
far  off  as  ever,  would  be  a  sore  strain  indeed.  He  saw  His 
Church  and  people  on  their  knees  ;  He  understood,  although 
He  did  not  say,  "  that  praying  work  would  be  fainting  work" ; 
and  to  keep  us  on  our  knees,  and  while  there  to  keep  us 
either  from  fainting  through  languishing  desire  and  hope 
deferred,  or  from  falling  asleep  through  formality  and  sheer 
drowsiness,  He  told  this  crisp,  sharp,  racy — I  had  almost  said 
grotesque — illustration.  By  any  means  and  every  means  to 
pitch  up  high  into  bold  and  clear  relief  this  thought :  Hope 


269 

on,  pray  on,  pray  ever;   "praying  breath  is  never  spent  in 
vain." 

Now,  what  is  the  ilhistration  ?  "  Hear  what  the  unjust 
judge  saith,"  said  our  Lord.  So  we  must  look  at  him 
sharply,  and  see  who  he  is,  and  hsten  to  what  he  says,  to 
get  the  meaning.  **  There  was  in  a  city  a  judge,  which 
feared  not  God,  neither  regarded  man."  Notice  how  he  is 
described  ;  for  all  Christ's  illustrations  overlap  the  particu- 
lar point  sought  for.  You  cannot  get  your  bull's-eye  lantern 
to  shine  only  on  the  key-hole  where  you  may  be  fumbling, 
trying  to  fit  in  your  key  at  night ;  it  illuminates  the  whole 
door.  So  with  Christ's  teaching  ;  while  it  is  meant  to  shine 
on  the  text,  it  shines  upon  much  more.  "  Men  ought 
always  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint."  "  A  man  who  feared  not 
God,  neither  regarded  man."  That  is  striking  :  that  man 
is  well  described.  I  do  not  want  to  overpush  it,  but  we  all 
sat  for  our  portrait  when  that  man  was  described. 
"  Feared  not  God."  It  is  because  we  broke  the  first  table 
of  the  law  that  we  broke  the  second.  Give  a  deaf  ear  to 
all  teaching  that  says  you  can  polish  up  men  on  the  side 
that  regards  their  fellow-men,  and  leave  the  Godward  side 
alone — if  there  is  such  a  side  at  all.  The  world  has  never 
seen  a  truly  fine  man  lolio  feared  not  God.  We  have  the 
Godward  and  the  manward  side ;  audit  is  from  the  Godward 
side  that  the  rust  has  eaten  through;  the  manward  is  spoiled 
and  disfigured  because  the  Godward  side  was  previously 
corrupted.  The  rust  and  the  blight  set  in  there.  "  He 
feared  not  God."  We  are  all  like  him,  unless  a  stupendous 
change  has  passed  upon  us.  Because  we  have  broken  away 
from  God,  tlierefore  we  have  broken  away  from  our  brother. 
Because,  naturally,  I  do  not  fear  God,  therefore  button  up 
your  pockets,  for  when  it  serves  myself,  I  may  help  myself. 


270  "  PBAY  WITHOUT   CEASING." 

That  is  human  nature ;  there  is  no  reliable  inherent  good  in 
it.  The  best  men  naturally  are,  as  has  been  shown  over 
and  over  again,  all  very  fine  until  they  are  supremely  and 
severely  tried. 

Therefore  let  us  have  true  religion;  viz.,  that  which 
binds  a  man  back  to  God,  restores  him  to  God,  and  there- 
fore restores  him  to  his  brother  man.  We  are  told,  "  To 
thine  own  self  be  true,  and  it  will  follow  as  the  night  the 
day,  thou  canst  not  then  be  false  to  any  man."  That  is 
put  on  too  low  a  level.  The  ultimate  way  of  saying  that 
should  be,  "  To  thine  own  God  be  true,  and  it  will  follow, 
thou  shalt  not  then  be  false  to  any  man."  "  The  fear  of 
the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom."  The  religion  of 
Christ  Jesus  is  here,  to  make  us  anew  along  the  line  of  our 
spoiled  nature  ;  to  begin  where  we  were  worst  defaced,  and 
to  work  out  through  all  the  ramifications  of  our  complex 
being  and  our  complex  life ;  to  make  us  love  the  Lord  our 
God  with  all  our  heart,  our  soul,  our  strength  and  mind, 
then  our  neighbour  as  our  own  soul. 

"  And  there  was  a  widow  in  that  city;  and  she  came  unto 
him,  saying.  Avenge  me  of  mine  adversary.  And  he 
would  not  for  awhile  :  but  afterward  he  said  within 
himself.  Though  I  fear  not  God,  and  regard  not  man  " 
—  almost  the  only  open  thing  in  him  was  his  open 
profligacy — "  yet  because  this  widow  troubleth  me,  I  will 
avenge  her,  lest  by  her  continual  coming  she  weary  me." 
There  is  a  difference  in  the  translation.  Scholars  think 
the  best  translation  should  be,  "Lest  coming  at  last  she 
beat  me — she  break  out  upon  me,  and  do  me  personal 
violence."  Now,  look  at  the  picture :  there  is  God,  holy, 
just,  pure ;  His  law,  holy,  just,  pure ;  He  never  did  harm 
to  anybody,  and  He  cannot  look  on  sin ;  He  is  of  purer 


"  PRAY   WITHOUT  CEASING."  271 

eyes  than  to  behold  iniquity;  there  He  sits  on  His  holy 
throne,  "  Justice  and  judgment  are  the  habitation  thereof, 
mercy  and  truth  go  before  His  face."  Now,  His  Son, 
Jesus  Christ,  is  teaching  us  how  to  pray,  and  He  hangs 
this  picture  beside  that.  Here  is  a  corrupt  judge,  a  man 
who  poisons  the  well  of  justice  and  mercy  at  the  fountain- 
head  ;  and  the  Lord  says  to  us,  "  Look  at  this  and  at  that, 
and  learn  at  whose  feet  you  kneel,  and  do  at  least  as  well 
as  the  widow  did,  for  you  have  every  encouragement,  where 
she  had  the  very  opposite." 

This  judge  was  corrupt.  We  almost  lose  a  little  of  the 
teaching  here;  it  pales  a  little  in  England,  because  our 
judges  are  upright,  and  the  well  of  justice  does  flow  more  or 
less  purely.  But  you  have  only  to  go  to  Turkey  to-day,  to 
Eastern  lands,  in  order  to  find  out  how  vividly  the  parable 
shines  as  an  illustration.  At  this  very  hour  justice  is  openly 
bought  and  sold.  The  man  who  can  bribe,  the  man  who 
can  intimidate,  the  man  who  can  cross  the  judge's  loof  with 
silver  and  gold,  gets  the  verdict.  The  prophet  Isaiah  knew 
all  about  it  when  describing  the  coming  Lord,  the  only  truly 
righteous  King  who  ever  sat  on  any  throne ;  he  says,  "  He 
shall  not  judge  after  (or,  according  to)  the  sight  of  the  eye." 
He  will  not  be  daunted  in  the  court,  that  is  to  say,  from 
giving  a  right  verdict,  because  some  powerful  man  in  the 
corner  has  his  eye  on  Him,  and  virtually,  by  his  looks,  says, 
"  Now,  if  you  dare;  remember  I  am  in."  He  will  not  be 
deflected  from  uprightness  because  His  eye  has  lit  on  some- 
body whom  He  fears.  "  Neither  shall  He  reprove  after  the 
hearing  of  the  ear."  Nobody  will  be  able  to  climb  up  by 
back-stair  influence  and  poison  justice  by  whispering  false 
testimony  into  His  ear.  Just  exactly  the  opposite  was  the 
man  whom  our  Lord  describes.    I  think  Jesus  was  in  the 


9.n 

habit  of  going  into  law  courts ;  I  think  He  went  wherever 
good  lessons  were  to  be  learned,  wherever  real  life  came  out. 
Into  Bethesda,  the  Hospital  for  Incurables,  He  stepped  for 
half  an  hour  one  Sunday,  before  going  to  the  Temple ;  and 
many  a  time,  I  think.  He  stepped  from  the  Market-place 
into  the  Court  of  Justice.  He  got  His  illustrations  from 
where  folk  lived  and  moved  and  had  their  being ;  where 
nature  breaks  out,  either  at  its  best  or  at  its  worst.  He  was 
there,  **  gathering  light,"  according  to  the  cant  of  to-day, 
"  from  every  quarter." 

The  judgment  is  set,  the  judge  is  sitting,  the  court  is 
waiting.  Being  a  public  place,  every  one  can  go  in.  Their 
rules  of  procedure  were  no  doubt  a  little  different  from  ours, 
a  little  opener  and  freer ;  not  so  many  "  Q.C.'s,"  and 
"  W.S.'s,"  and  "  S.S.C.'s,"  and  gowns  and  wigs,  and  "  all 
the  divinity  that  doth  hedge  a  judge."  And  the  judge  is 
beginning  his  usual  *'  auction  "  of  justice,  when  I  hear  a 
voice  crying  along  the  lobbies  and  corridors;  it  waxes 
louder  and  louder,  and  at  last  bang  into  the  court  room 
comes  a  woman.  They  tried  to  put  her  out :  they  could 
not.  She  has  unsheathed  her  only  sword — her  woman's 
tongue,  and  flung  away  the  scabbard.  There  is  no  getting 
rid  of  her  ;  again  and  again,  pell-mell,  the  shrill,  piercing  cry 
rises  ;  the  thin  white  face  grows  whiter,  and  the  shrill  voice 
sharper  still,  and  the  gleaming,  indignant  eyes  burn  like 
lamps  :  "  Avenge  me  of  mine  adversary."  What  sort  of  cause 
she  had  you  can  imagine.  Now,  the  Old  Testament  rings  with 
indignation  concerning  the  widow's  wrongs  ;  for  the  widow 
in  Eastern  lands  is  poor  and  helpless  indeed.  Macaulay 
said  that  two  or  three  hundred  years  ago  a  Jew  had  no 
legal  right  to  the  teeth  in  his  head,  if  they  were  wanted. 
It  has  always  been  so  as  to  a  widow  in  corrupt  countries. 


**  PRAY  WITHOUT   CEASING."  273 

She  is  a  prey  to  all  the  vultures  that  can  sweep  round 
about  her.     Here,  then,  she  is.     Somebody  has  been  de- 
frauding her ;  robbing  her  of  something  that   she  had  to 
help  her  in  her  loneliness.     He  has,  perhaps,  been  taking 
the  children  and  selling  them  into  slavery ;  and,  smarting 
under  her  wrong,  her  whole  soul  wrung  with  the  villainy 
and  deceit,  she  flies  to  the  Court  of  Justice,  to  meet  there 
this  callosity,  this  lump  of  proud  flesh,  this  deaf  adder, 
this     man     without     ear,     heart,     or     blood     for    either 
justice  or  mercy.     And  our  Lord,  I  have  no  doubt,  caused 
a  smile  when  He  told  it,  as  the  grim  humour  of  a  too- 
familiar  scene  broke  upon  His  hearers.     Never  mind  the 
ponderous  nonsense  you  hear  from  some  people,  that  you 
should  never  smile.     In  English,  the  description  loses  a 
little.     It  was  a  common  sight,  when  a  judge  went  to  his 
house,  to  be  besieged  along  the  street,  with  people  half-mad 
with  injustice  making  themselves  ridiculous,  making   the 
crowd  to  laugh  at  them  as  they  shook  their  fists,  and 
yelled  at  the  top  of  their  voices  the  story  of  their  wrongs. 
This  illustration  is  of  a  yelling,  frantic,  maddened  woman, 
making  herself  ridiculous  to  officials,  to  this  judge,  to  all 
cool,  fat,  sleek,  comfortable  people  who  had  no  wrongs,  who 
were  not  widows,  or  who,  if  they  had  troubles,  could  grease 
this  man's  palm,  and  get  out  of  him  by  bribery  what  justice 
would  fail  to  win. 

What  a  picture !  And  this  "  scene  "  has  happened  so  often, 
that  at  last  the  Lord  shows  us  the  big,  fat,  bulky,  corrupt 
creature  sitting  there,  putting  his  hands  to  his  ears,  as  the 
widow  burst  into  the  room,  and  with  brutal  cynical  frank- 
ness saying,  "  Though  I  fear  not  God,  neither  regard  man; 
yet  because  this  widow  troubleth  me,  I  will  avenge  her,  lest 
in  the  end  she  strike  me."     The  very  word  that  Paul  uses 


274 

in  reference  to  his  body,  when  he  says,  "  I  beat  my  body, 
subject  it  to  cruel  treatment,  lest  my  body  run  off  with  my 
soul,  and  I  become  a  castaway." 

And  the  Lord  deliberately  brings  out  the  grotesque 
element  of  the  situation.  "  Why,"  thinks  the  judge,  "  she 
will  go  from  bad  to  worse ;  she  has  worried  me  already ; 
but  she  will  go  further  than  that ;  what  a  fury  it  is  in ;  the 
creature  will  scratch ;  she  will  blacken  my  eyes— I  see  it  in 
her  face  ;  I  had  better  grant  her  request.  I  hate  a  scene." 
And  as  you  would  toss  a  bone  to  a  dog,  or  a  copper  to  a 
beggar — contemptuously,  to  get  rid  of  her,  he  avenged  her 
of  her  adversary  and  granted  her  plea.  She  prevailed  by 
her  weakness ;  she  had  no  wealthy  friend  or  clever  lawyer 
to  take  up  her  cause ;  the  very  contemptible  thing  about 
her  was  the  thing  by  which  she  wrought,  and  fought,  and 
won.  She  was  just  as  contemptible  as  you  would  think 
any  person  out  there  on  the  street  would  be ; — clamouring 
to  some  policeman  and  telling,  with  all  manner  of  frantic 
gesticulations,  some  story  of  real  wrong  which  she  has 
Buffered  from  neighbours,  but  telling  her  case  with  such 
exaggeration  of  emphasis  that  the  policeman  smiles,  as 
all  do  round  about.  That  was  this  woman.  There  was 
nothing  fine  about  her ;  you  have  to  import  all  that.  And 
the  Lord  said,  "Hear  what  the  unjust  judge  saith."  I 
never  would  have  dared  do  that.  There  is  God,  and  there 
is' the  judge,  and  He  puts  them  before  you  and  says,  **  See 
this  man,  with  no  tender  point  in  him,  nothing  to  appeal  to; 
as  to  call  justice,  and  judgment,  and  mercy,  you  might  as 
well  have  spoken  to  a  wall ;  and  yet  she  won  by  her  weak- 
ness, by  clamour,  by  shamelessness,  by  importunity."  Now, 
see  Him  at  whose  feet  you  kneel,  see  the  face  you  gaze  into 
— that  one  bloated,  hardened,  corrupt,  sensual,   devilish; 


"  PRAT   WITHOUT   CEASING."  275 

but  this  one,  it  is  heaven  to  look  at  it,  and  the  angels  veil 
their  faces  with  their  wings  before  it.  This  heart  is  filled 
with  love  unfathomable,  unutterable,  "  Shall  not  God  " — the 
emphasis  is  on  God,  and  on  avenge — "  shall  not  God — shall 
not  God  avenge  ?  "  Was  ever  such  a  one  in  the  world  ?  Was 
ever  judge  on  a  bench  whose  heart  so  thrilled  with  the  story 
of  wrong  as  His  at  whose  feet  the  Church  pleads  in  prayer  ? 
If  any  judge  likes  to  hear  a  cause  well  put,  our  God  does  ; 
if  any  judge  hkes  to  hear  a  tale  well  told,  surely  He  does. 
Keep  telling  ;  you  have  a  good  case. 

I  think  in  this  story  the  Lord  is  referring  more  particu- 
larly to  the  whole  Church,  pleading  for  her  final  redemption ; 
but  pleading,  either  as  a  whole  or  as  individuals,  have  not 
we  a  good  case?  Have  not  we  been  oppressed  of  the 
adversary?  Father,  mother,  have  not  you  a  good  case 
with  your  son,  with  your  daughter,  wrested  from  you 
by  the  adversary,  the  world — have  not  you  a  good  case  ? 
Go  back  to  your  praying-closet,  and  tell  your  case — it 
is  a  good  one;  and,  unlike  the  poor  widow,  you  are  not 
telling  it  to  deaf  ears,  but  to  One  whose  heart  overflows 
with  sympathy.  Whatever  you  feel,  He  feels  the  same, 
and  much  more  abundantly.  So  with  us  all.  Has  not 
Christ's  whole  Church  in  London  a  good  cause  ?  Have  not 
we  something  to  go  in  before  the  Father  with  that  should 
tell  ?  Ah !  the  great  lack  we  have  is  that  we  are  not  like 
the  widow.  We  are  too  wise,  we  are  too — I  don't  want  to 
put  it  too  strongly — but  are  we  not  too  accursedly  cool  ? 
Are  we  like  people  who  are  harried  by  the  adversary  ? 
Like  people  whose  blood  boils,  whose  eyes  flash  with 
gleams  of  lightning ;  nearly  maddened,  nearly  dehrious, 
that  after  all  that  God  has  said,  and  Christ  has  done, 
harlots  fill  our  streets ;  that  dram-shops,  like  batteries  of 


276 

hell,  sweep  the  community  at  every  corner ;  that  60,000 
of  the  people  are  swept  every  year  into  a  drunkard's  grave ; 
that  we  do  the  same  thing  for  other  places  of  the  earth  by 
sending  gin,  rum,  and  fire-water  by  the  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  gallons  to  distant  lands?  Has  not  Christ's 
Church  a  cause?  ^' It  is  the  cause,  it  is  the  cause,  my 
soul ! "  And  yet,  how  cool  we  are !  Show  me  your 
knees ;  how  unmarked  they  are  with  persevering  prayer ! 
We  have  a  cause  for  which  it  would  be  only  sane  and  wise 
did  we  rise,  like  John  Welsh  of  Ayr,  whose  knees  were 
callous  with  all-night  prayer.  He  would  rise  at  midnight, 
and  fling  a  plaid  across  his  shoulders,  and  go  into  his 
church  that  was  next  door  to  his  house,  and  kneel  down, 
and  cry  to  God,  *'  I  cannot  sleep  with  3,000  people  out 
there  in  the  town,  and  I  know  not  how  it  is  with  many 
of  them." 

"  Prayer  is  better  than  sleep!"  the  Mohammedan  watch- 
man cries,  as  he  goes  about  the  city  through  the  silent 
watches  of  the  night.  As  he  rings  out  the  hour,  even  he, 
with  his  false  religion,  cries,  "  Prayer  is  better  than  sleep ! 
Prayer  is  better  than  sleep!''  Would  to  God  we  could  learn 
that !  I  say  that  it  is  what  we  want ;  we  have  a  Judge 
who  is  upright,  and  just,  and  filled  with  mercy  ;  but  we  are 
not  like  the  widow.  He  plays  His  part  well,  while  we  play 
the  widow's  part  most  ivretchedly.  If  ever  you  feel  annoyed, 
you  theatre-going  friends,  by  a  poor  player  who  mouths, 
and  struts,  and  gasps  his  part  that  is  evidently  only  pinned 
on  to  him,  so  may  God  be  offended  with  what  we  call  pray- 
ing at  the  throne  of  grace.  There  is  no  gasp  in  it,  no  sob  in 
it,  no  perseverance  in  it,  no  blood-heat  in  it,  no  despera- 
tion. 

Now,  Christ  anticipated  that  as  the  long  procession  of 


**  PRAY    WITHOUT    CEASING."  277 

the  centuries  came  and  went,  we  would  feel  this.  We  do 
feel  the  burden,  don't  wo?  —  as  time  goes  on,  and  the 
promise  and  the  actual  facts  have  such  awful  contradiction 
in  them.  The  promise  of  the  Lord's  return — and  He  said 
He  was  coming  quickly — the  promise  of  the  last,  long,  loud 
shout  of  victory ;  oh,  how  it  has  been  falsified  seemingly, 
and  heart -breakingly  postponed  !  The  tide  was  to  rise, 
He  told  us ;  it  was  to  rise  and  flood  the  earth  with  the 
knowledge  of  His  glory,  "  as  the  waters  flood  the  sea  "  ; 
and  a  protracted,  persistent,  bitter  wind  off  the  shore  con- 
tinually is  beating  back  that  rising  tide.  **  But  I  encourage 
you,"  says  our  Lord,  "  to  hold  on  without  fainting,  without 
sleeping."  Shall  not  God  avenge  His  own  elect  that  cry 
unto  Him  day  and  night  ?  I  tell  you  He  will  avenge  them 
speedily. 

Now,  there  are  differences  here  again  in  the  translation, 
but,  after  all,  the  meaning  is  the  same,  and  it  is  this  :  "  Do 
not  fasten  your  thoughts  so  much  on  the  long  time  ;  only 
keep  coming."  I  know  you  will  be  tried  with  God's  seeming 
silence  and  off-putting,  but  I  tell  you  this  by  way  of  con- 
trast :  keep  going,  and  let  this  encourage  you — "  speedily." 
Not  soon  is  the  idea,  but  speedily.  Keep  at  it.  On  this 
point,  one  has  shown  that  God's  deliverances  are  always 
speedy.  For  over  four  hundred  years  Israel  in  Egypt  was 
crying,  "  How  long  ?  how  long  ?  "  And  with  their  hands  up 
in  prayer  they  cried,  and  they  died,  generations  of  them ; 
but  at  last  He  came  "  speedily."  We  do  not  know  Him. 
Speedily  at  last  came  the  Egyptian  deliverance.  So  with 
the  Babylonish  captivity.  Whole  generations  of  the  captive 
Jews  hung  their  harps  on  the  willows,  and  shed  floods  of 
bitter  tears,  and  wept,  remembering  Zion ;  and  died, 
and   left   their   bones    in   a    foreign   laud.      But    speedily 


278  "  PRAY   WITHOUT   CEASING." 

in  the  end  God  heard  their  prayer.  God  did  come, 
and  He  avenged  them  of  their  adversaries.  God  under- 
stood what  old  Habakkuk  wrote,  who,  looking  at  the 
power  of  Babylon,  seeing  how  like  fishers  they  flung  their 
nets  into  the  sea,  and  drew  whole  nations  into  captivity  like 
fishes,  cried  to  God,  "  O  God,  Thou  art  of  purer  eyes  than  to 
behold  iniquity ;  wherefore  then  dost  Thou  sit  quiet,  and 
behold  how  nations  are  spoiled  by  this  destroyer  ?  "  And 
the  answer  came  :  "  The  vision  is  for  an  appointed  time, 
but  at  the  end  it  shall  speak  and  not  lie  ;  though  it  tarry, 
wait  for  it,  wait  for  it,  because  it  will  surely  come,  it  will 
not  tarry ;  and  the  just  shall  live  by  his  faith."  Faith  gets 
the  victory  even  on  its  knees.  Faith  is  always  victorious  ; 
and  by-and-bye  it  will  turn  to  actual  sight,  and  the  halle- 
lujah shall  fill  the  universe,  for  the  adversary  has  at  last 
been  beaten,  and  "  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  have  become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  God  and  of  His  Christ,  and  He  shall 
reign  for  ever  and  ever." 

"  When  Zion's  bondage  God  turned  back, 
As  men  that  dreamed  were  we — 

it  came  so  suddenly — "when  grief  was  calm,  and  hope  wa^ 
dead  " — 

"  Then  filled  with  laughter  was  our  mouth, 
Our  tongue  with  melody." 

And  we  said,  *'  Why  did  we  ever  doubt  it  ?     Why  did  we 

ever  faint,  and  forget  the  teaching  that  said,  *  Men  ought 
always  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint '?  "  So,  then,  keep  praying, 
keep  crying,  keep  urging,  keep  clamorous,  keep  importunate ; 
find  your  strength  in  your  weakness. 

What  a  relief  it  would  have  been  to  that  woman  if,  on 
the  day  when  she  came  burdened  to  get  justice,  she  had 
looked  on  the  judge  on  the  bench,  and  her  wiiole  soul  had 


"PBAY   WITHOUT   CEASING."  279 

leaped  within  her,  for  there  she  saw  a  friend  of  hers  who 
on  a  bygone  day  had  gone  through  great  personal  risk  and 
peril  to  save  her.  Would  she  not  have  told  her  tale  calmly 
and  confidently  to  him  whom  she  now  found  to  be  a 
friend,  her  friend?  And  when  we  come  to  God,  let  us 
remember  that  the  Judge  is  our  Husband,  our  Friend,  our 
God.  You  are  His  elect.  "  Behold  Mine  elect."  From  all 
eternity  He  set  His  love  upon  you.  A  love  that  no  tongue 
can  tell,  and  no  heart  of  man  or  angel  can  describe  or 
conceive,  is  the  love  He  bears  who  sits  King  and  Judge 
on  the  throne  of  the  universe.  Therefore  pray ;  produce 
your  cause ;  plead  your  strong  arguments ;  come  before 
Him.  Deliver  yourself  from  fear,  and  constraint,  and  chill, 
and  coldness,  and,  if  you  have  a  good  cause,  keep  at  it. 
Shall  not  God  understand  a  good  cause  ?  Shall  not  God 
appreciate  a  well-put  argument  ?  Does  not  His  soul,  if 
I  may  so  put  it,  ring  responsive  to  every  throb  and  plead- 
ing for  justice,  for  mercy,  for  things  so  entirely  agreeable 
to  and  consonant  with  His  own  mind,  His  own  heart.  His 
own  purpose,  for  you  and  all  mankind  through  Christ 
Jesus  since  all  eternity  began  ?  But  we  almost  think  that, 
if  our  God  is  not  an  unjust  judge,  He  is  an  ordinary 
just  judge.  And  even  there  our  English  procedure  will 
help  us.  The  ordinary  just  judge  who  sits  up  there — I 
would  not  like  to  speak  to  him,  he  has  on  his  wig  and  he  is 
almost — not  so  much  supernatural  as  preternatural.  He  is 
unspeakably  grave,  and  solemn,  and  wise  ;  and  if  you  dare 
to  do  anything  which  is  not  according  to  Cocker,  oh,  it  is 
almost  an  unpardonable  sin.  A  friend  of  miae  in  Edinburgh 
went  into  a  law  court,  and  he  wanted  to  speak  in  con- 
nection with  a  certain  case,  but  he  was  just  so  dead 
frightened   with   nervousness   at   having   to   speak  in  this 


280  "  PRAY   WITHOUT   CEASING.' 

"palladium  of  our  British  liberties,"  et  cetera,  that  he  let 
the  moraent  go  past,  and  the  case  was  really  over  when  at 
last  he  summoned  up  his  courage,  and  said,  *'  My  lord,  is 
this  over?"  And  "my  lord"  rose  utterly  horrified  that 
he  should  be  spoken  to  by  a  creature  who  was  not 
an  advocate,  or  a  W.S.,  or  a  Q.C.,  or  some  of  those  satellites 
of  justice.  That  an  ordinary  human  being  should  rise  and 
dare  to  speak  to  him  without  any  mediatorship  !  "  Usher," 
he  said,  "  Usher,  put  this  man  out."  The  man  was  a  mini- 
ster, and  he  has  preached  in  this  pulpit.  It  was  not  I.  Now, 
I  do  not  say  that  he  might  not  have  done  better  and  wiser, 
but,  when  I  read  it,  I  thought  that  it  was  a  grand  illustra- 
tion again  of  the  unlikeness.  The  Lord  is  not  like  that. 
Even  our  just  judges  have  a  great  deal  of  buckram  round 
about  them.  There  is  none  of  that  in  Him — none.  The 
legal  element  needs  to  be  watched,  for  it  carries  with  it  a 
lot  of  starch,  and  buckram,  and  postures.  How  wise  we 
are  !  Now,  when  you  are  praying,  do  not  think  of  these 
judges  of  ours,  even  at  their  best.  Think,  if  you  like,  of 
what  they  represent — the  ideals  behind  them.  The  ideals 
are  always  right.  And  then  trace  all  the  ideals  up  to  the 
Being  to  whom  you  are  praying ;  and  then  you  are  right. 
He  is  Judge ;  but  He  is  always  Father,  Husband,  Brother, 
Priest,  Prophet,  Saviour,  Friend — 

"  Join  all  the  glorious  names 

Of  wisdom,  love,  and  power, 
That  ever  mortals  knew, 

That  ever  angels  bore. 
All  arc  too  mean  to  speak  His  worth, 

Too  mean  to  set  my  Saviour  forth." 

Now,  go  in  before  Him  with  your  case,  for  yourself,  for 
your  Church,  for  your  Christian  work,  for  Christ's  cause  to 
earth's  remotest  end ;  and  do  not  faint  though  you  have  to 
come  often,  and  though  the  time  seems  long.  His  ear  isj 
iiot  heavy  that  it  cannot  hear — 'tis  an  infinite  lie ; — Hib 
arm  is  not  shortened  that  it  cannot  save.  May  God  bless 
His  Word.     Amen. 

Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


Regent  Square  pulpit. 


MORE  ABOUT  PBAYER— ANOTHEli 
"  IMPORTUNATE." 


Preached  in  Regent  Square  Cnuncn, 
ON   Sabbath   Morning,  March   15th,   1891, 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


Text — 1  Kings  xviii.  41  to  end. 
We  are  conscious — are  we  not  ? — as  we  read  this  chapter 
through  from  the  beginning,  that  Elijah  in  prayer  does  not 
look  nearly  so  dramatic,  so  tragic,  as  Elijah  in  the  foregoing 
part  of  his  work,  when 

"  Amidst  the  faithless,  faithful  only  he," 
he  showed  himself  to  Ahab,  he  gathered  the  whole  people 
and  idolatrous  priesthood  together  on  Mount  Carmel,  and 
stood  up  for  God,  and  truth,  and  righteousness.  No ;  to  the 
eye  of  sense,  this  lonely,  crouching,  praying  figure  is  not 
nearly  so  grand  and  striking.  Yonder  he  stood,  crying 
aloud:  "How  long  halt  ye  between  two  opinions?"  A 
man  completely  lifted  above  and  beyond  himself ;  strong  in 
the  Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  His  might ;  crying  to  God 
for  the  fire ;  and  the  fire  leaping  down,  consuming  every- 
thing ;  and  the  great  multitude  of  people  surging  and  sway- 
ing like  a  forest  in  a  storm  ;  and  the  tempest  of  acclamation 

Vol.  III.— No.  19. 


282    MOEE   ABOUT  PRAYER — ANOTHER    ''IMPORTUNATE." 

bursting   from    the    united    heart    and  mouth  of  them : 
*'  Jehovah,  He  is  the  Lord,  He  is  the  God  !  " 

And  now,  does  it  not  a  Uttle  look  like  the  time  when,  in 
the  theatre,  the  audience  has  gone,  and  the  lights  are  turned 
down,  and  the  tragedy  king  puts  off  the  kingly  robes  in 
which  he  had  "  strutted  and  fretted  "  during  his  brief  hour 
upon  the  stage?  It  is  the  same  figure.  This  man,  but  a 
few  hours  ago,  stood  before  the  king,  and  priests,  and  a 
corrupt  nation,  and,  by  the  power  of  God  given  to  him, 
swepit  the  nation  back  into  the  arms  of  God  again.  It  is 
the  same  man,  broken,  empty,  down  on  the  earth,  with  his 
face  between  his  knees.  All  over !  The  king  gone,  the 
mighty  multitude  of  people  gone  !  Nobody  but  the  servant 
up  there  on  a  pinnacle,  looking  for  what  does  not  seem  to 
be  coming — a  sound  or  sign  of  rain.  Now,  I  dwell  on  that, 
dear  friends,  because  it  is  a  powerful  preaching  picture — is 
it  not  ? — of  one  side  still  of  the  life  and  work  of  the  man  of 
God:  the  praying  side.  The  testifying  side,  that  which 
brings  us  into  collision  with  our  fellow-men,  is  striking. 
"When  God  strengthens  us,  when  God  makes  us  by  His  grace 
to  be  like  an  iron  pillar  or  a  brazen  wall  to  our  generation, 
there  is  something  stirring  and  heroic  in  the  position.  To 
a  man  of  Elijah's  temperament  there  is  "that  stern 
joy  that  warriors  feel "  in  "  showing  himself  to  Ahab  " ; 
in  flinging  himself  at  "  the  very  head  and  front "  of 
the  people's  offending  without  fear,  without  care.  Ah, 
yes !  but  then  there  is  the  other  side ;  aye,  and  looked 
at  with  baptized  eyes,  it  is  the  grandest  side,  it  is 
the  mightiest  side.  Without  this,  the  waiting  on  God,  the 
other  is  phantom-like,  false,  fleeting,  vain.  Nothing 
outwardly  heroic  about  it,  true ;  nothing  of  the  magnetic 
multitude,  or  the  magnificent,  or  the  tragic.     No ;  nothing 


MORE  ABOUT  PRAYER — ANOTHER  "  IMPORTUNATE."  283 

but  the  Invisible  God  there,  and  poor  me  here,  and  nothing 
to  grapple  to  but  just  the  bare  word  He  has  promised.  To 
grip  Him  by  that  word,  and  hang,  hang,  hang,  till  through 
that  word  of  promise,  pled  in  effectual  fervent  prayer,  you 
move  the  arm  that  moves  the  world.  And  the  ere  while 
burnished  heavens  are  black  with  clouds,  "and  the  big 
rain  comes  dancing  to  the  earth,"  and  the  glory  of 
God  is  revealed  as  the  Faithful  Promiser.  That  is  the 
picture. 

Now,  after  I  saw  that  myself,  however  dimly,  I  wanted 
you  to  see  it.  The  great  need  of  prayer,  and  the  power  of 
prayer,  and  the  real  though  "  lonely  splendour,"  the  awful 
grandeur  of  the  Man  who  Prays  1  This  is  a  man  of  hke 
passions  with  ourselves,  who,  through  faith,  through  prayer, 
shot  the  bolt  and  locked  the  heavens ;  and  then  after  the 
blot  had  rusted  in  the  lock  for  three  years,  the  same  wrist, 
with  the  same  power,  shot  back  the  bolt  and  opened 
Heaven  ; — the  parched  and  thirsty  land  was  drenched  with 
blessing. 
■  "  Elijah  said  to  Ahab,  Get  thee  up,  eat  and  drink;  for 
there  is  a  sound  of  abundance  of  rain."  Ahab  represents 
kings,  courts,  earthly  powers  ;  but,  blessed  be  God,  the 
mightiest  power  in  the  land  is  not  with  King,  Court,  or 
Parliament. 

A  sound  of  abundance  of  rain  I  How  did  Elijah  hear  that 
souud  ?  Nobody  in  all  Israel  heard  that  sound  but  just  that 
one  man.  It  was  not  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear  that  he 
heard  it.  It  must  have  been  by  the  ear  of  faith.  The  skies 
above  were  glowing  brass ;  the  earth  beneath  cracked  and 
"  gazened  "  like  a  tub  in  the  sun.  Not  a  leaf  stirred  in  all 
the  sultry  burning  land  ;  and  yet  Elijah  said,  "  There  is  a 
sound."    We  have  a  word  in  Scotland  that  alone  can  trans- 


284  MORE  ABOUT  PRAYER — ANOTHER  "IMPORTUNATE." 

late  it :  there  is  a  "  sough."  Away  up  among  the  hills  of 
God,  where  all  the  blessings  begin,  Elijah's  ear  of  faith 
heard  the  rushing  of  the  winds ;  **  these  ministers  of  His 
that  do  His  pleasure."  He  saw  by  faith  that  magnificent 
congress  of  the  winds  that  Ezekiel  saw,  "  Come  from  the 
four  winds,  O  Breath,  and  breathe."  And  he  saw  the 
winds  coming,  trooping,  wheeling,  getting  ready  for  the 
rush,  when  God  who  holds  them  in  His  fists  should  "  slip  " 
them. 

The  sound  of  the  abundance !  First  the  sound,  you  see. 
To  the  ear  of  faith,  very  little,  but  enough.  The  sound  ! 
Now,  have  we  got  that  to-day?  Sabbath-school  teachers, 
preacher,  you  are  working  for  Christ,  lamenting  the  drjmess, 
the  leanness,  and  the  emptiness ;  pluck  up  heart  of  grace, 
my  friend.  For  here  is  always  our  condition.  If  we  would 
only  stop  and  listen,  even  at  the  darkest  and  the  driest,  we 
would  catch  the  sound  of  the  abundance.  That  is  to  say, 
you  have  got  the  word  of  promise.  Take  it  literally ;  every 
time  you  hear  a  promise  of  God  quoted  in  your  ear,  there 
is  the  sound  of  the  abundance.  But  ah  !  how  dull  we  are  • 
how  unlike  Elijah  !  God  had  said  to  him — it  seems  to  be 
almost  a  chance  word  in  the  by-going — **  Go  show  thy- 
self unto  Ahab,  and  I  will  send  rain  on  the  earth."  And 
Elijah  heard  and  hung  on  to  that.  God  said  to  him,  "  Go 
show  yourself  to  Ahab;  do  My  work  and  all  My  will,  of 
that  outward,  perilous  kind.  Take  your  life  in  your  hand, 
and  be  faithful  to  Me  among  My  faithless  people.  Show 
thyself  to  Ahab,  and  I  will  send  rain  on  the  earth."  And 
he  has  showed  himself  to  Ahab.  He  has  proclaimed  God's 
truth,  and  God's  people  have  come  to  Him  again  through 
the  appointed  way  of  accepted  sacrifice ;  hiit  the  ram  has 
Tiot  yet  come.     Oh,  when  is  it  going  to  come  ?    The  curse 


MORE  ABOUT  PRAYER — ANOTHER  "  IMPORTUNATE."  285 

has  not  been  fully  lifted,  the  full  blessing  has  not  come. 
So  Elijah  goes  up  hanging  on  to  this  word,  in  which  there 
was  the  sound  of  the  abundance  that  was  to  follow :  "  I 
will  send  rain  upon  the  earth." 

Now,  dear  Church  and  people,  let  us  get  to  our  knees,  for 
if  we  only  think  along  the  lines  that  Elijah's  mind  was  led 
out  upon,  and  open  the  ear  of  faith  in  London  here,  with 
all  its  leanness  and  witheredness,  the  ear  can  still  hear  that 
"  sough."  The  whole  concave  of  heaven,  if  it  comes  to  that, 
that  stretches  above  the  Church  of  Christ  is  just  filled  with 
the  wind  of  God's  grace,  the  breath  of  God's  promise,  the 
word  that  God  has  spoken,  the  "  sound."  The  sound,  bless 
God  ! — and  the  abundance  won't  be  far  behind.  As  at 
Carmel,  only  much  more  abundantly,  the  sacrifice  has  been 
accepted ;  God  has  answered  by  fire,  and  the  rain  is  coming. 
We  have  a  standing  promise  of  rain ;  Calvary  and  Pente- 
cost need  never  be  more  than  fifty  days  apart,  I  do  believe, 
if  we  ivill  only  pray. 

A  sound  of  abundance  of  rain  !  The  thing  the  Church 
can  always  depend  upon  in  her  darkest  hour,  is  a  revival. 
The  unexpected  is  the  thing  that  can  always  happen ;  the 
unlikely,  the  thing  that  to  all  human  appearance  is  miles 
away,  millenniums  off,  is  just  the  thing  that  is  for  ever 
impending,  if  we  read  the  signs  of  the  times  aright,  if  we 
know  our  God,  and  know  what  His  promise  means,  and 
know  how  to  bend  the  knee  and  wait.  Kevival,  refreshing, 
gladness,  greenness,  righteousness,  and  peace  flowing  down 
our  streets  like  a  river,  our  health  springing  forth  like  a 
spring-day  after  the  fogs  of  London,  is  the  thing  that  is 
always  just  at  the  door,  and  might  always  be  here.  The 
check-string,  so  to  speak,  is  for  ever  dangling  at  our  hand, 
and  the  wonder  is  we  do  not  pull  it.     All  the  machinery  is 


286     MORE    ABOUT   PRATER—ANOTHER    "IMPORTUNATE." 

at  hand  for  a  magnificent  output  of  blessing  on  saints  and 
of  quickening  to  dead  sinners,  along  this  line  : — faithfidness 
before  the  world,  in  an  unflinching  testimony,  "  Go  show 
thyself  to  Ahab  "  ;  **  lift  up  the  Cross  "  ;  and,  equal  holy 
boldness  in  presenting  the  promise  before  the  Lord,  **  I  will 
send  rain  upon  the  earth." 

*•  So  Ahab  went  up  to  eat  and  drink.  And  Elijah  went  up 
to  the  top  of  Carmel ;  and  he  cast  himself  down  on  the 
earth,  and  put  his  face  between  his  knees.  And  said  to  his 
servant,  Go  up,  and  look  towards  the  sea.  And  the  servant 
went  up,  and  said,  There  is  nothing.  And  Elijah  said,  Go 
again  seven  times."  Last  Lord's  Day  morning  we  were  at 
this  subject  of  prayer,  dealing  with  the  importunate  widow ; 
and  we  found  there  the  best  idea  for  our  help  to  be  a  weak 
woman,  who  won  by  her  weakness.  Just  the  same  idea  is 
here.  Here  is  a  man  at  his  weakest ;  a  man  with  nothing 
to  hold  on  by.  Nothing,  I  repeat,  grand  or  striking;  no 
priests  to  kill,  no  altar  to  build,  no  sermon  to  preach,  no 
Ahab  even  to  take  by  the  beard  and  brazen  it  out  with 
him.  Nothing  humanly  heroic  there ;  nothing  to  stir  the 
pulses  and  quicken  the  blood,  and  brace  the  nerves  and 
sinews ;  nothing  between  you  and  heaven,  right  up  through 
the  void  there,  but  emptiness. 

And  I  think  that  is  striking  enough.  Don't  you  think 
so?  To  rise  from  earth  by  effectual  fervent  prayer,  and 
swell  yourself  into  heaven,  till  your  mouth  is  on  God's  ear, 
and  your  very  praying  breath  striking  on  that  blessed 
sensorium.  Now,  there  is  where  we  will  have  to  come 
down ;  there  is  the  other  side  of  our  work.  Elijah,  with 
his  face  between  his  knees,  pleading  the  promise.  What 
his  prayer  was,  is  not  said.  There  are  songs  without  words, 
and  surely  there  are  prayers  without  words.  At  any  rate, 
there  were  no  reporters  there ;  there  was  nobody  to  hear 
him.  I  do  not  know  that  his  prayer  could  have  been 
reported.  Preaching  is  difficult  to  report — true  preaching ; 
as  some  of  us  find.     When  you  are  preaching  best,  you  are 


MORE  ABOUT  PRAYER — ANOTHER  **  IMPORTUNATE."  287 

reported  worst.   Who  can  report  the  best  of  preaching  ?  The 

tear  in  the  eye,  and  the  throb  in  the  throat,  and  the  whole 

man  trembling,  pleading,  appealing  for  God  with  men— ah ! 

no  printer's  ink  can  catch  that.     And  it  is  still  truer  in 

prayer — 

'*  Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire, 
Uttered  or  unexpressed — 
The  motion  of  a  hidden  fire 
That  trembles  in  the  breast." 

The  best  prayer  won't  report ;  for  what  is  a  prayer  oft- 
times  but  just  what  I  believe  Elijah's  prayer  was  :  a  sob, 
a  gasp,  a  clenching  of  the  fists,  an  agonizing,  a  crying  to  God 
for  rain,  rain,  rain,  more  rain  ;  "  my  God,  send  floods,  send 
rain  upon  Thy  land  which  Thou  hast  given  to  Thy  people 
for  an  inheritance"  ?  You  cannot  get  that  into  grand,  striking 
rhetorical  sentences.  The  more  you  are  in  earnest,  the 
more  it  comes  up  in  explosive  utterances,  sharp  and  piercing. 
"  Bain,  rain,  rain  !  Thou  saidst  Thou  wouldst  send  rain 
on  the  earth;  O  God,  send  the  rain."  But  it  looks  grand, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  heaven.  I  do  not  doubt  but  that 
all  heaven  bent  over  that  Carmel  top  ; 

"Angels  in  their  choirs  rejoiced." 
That  man  of  God,  on  the  great,  lonely  mountain,  getting  up 
as   near   God   on  the  shoulder  of  that   hill   as  he   could, 
crying,   his   whole   body   praying,  as  well  as  his  parched 
throat  and  struggling  heart — all  praying. 

Then  there  is  another  point  we  notice.  In  true  prayer 
that  lays  hold  of  the  Divine  promise  there  is  always  that 
which  you  find  represented  here  by  Elijah's  servant.  There 
is  not  only  the  whole  being  engaged  in  pleading  this  Divine 
promise,  this  something  God  has  said — **  O  God,  do  as  Thou 
hast  said";  but  in  us  there  must  be  what  needed  two  men 
here — in  the  one  heart  both  powers  must  be  found.  There 
must  be  the  looking-out  for  the  answer.  There  is  the  man 
away  off  there  on  the  shoulder  of  the  hill,  still  farther  up 
than  Elijah,  looking  away  across  the  Mediterranean  that 
came    lapping    in  at  their    feet,   and  coming    back  and 


288     MORE    ABOUT    PEAYER — ANOTHER    "IMPORTUNATE." 

answering,  "  There  is  nothing — there  is  nothing  ! "  He  was 
an  honest  fellow,  that  servant ;  I  say  he  was  an  honest 
man.  Don't  you  think  that  there  was  a  little  temptation  for 
him  to  sympathize  with  Elijah ;  and  because  he  sympathized, 
to  come  back  and  say  something  better  than  a  poor  dis- 
heartening "Nothin:  "?  Don't  you  think  he  might  have 
been  inclined  to  add.  '  Well,  I'm  not  just  sure  ;  but  things 
seem  a  little  more  hopeful-looking  from  the  top  "  ?  No ;  he 
just  came  honestly  and  said,  "  Nothing."  And  Elijah  never 
turned  the  word  on  him  and  sent  him  away  to  discover 
something,  if  there  was  nothing.  Wait  on  God — my  word 
for  it ;  nay,  we  have  His  tuord  for  it,  upright  soul — when  God 
really  answers,  you  will  have  no  need  to  strain  things,  and 
try  to  make  nothing  into  something.  When  God  came,  the 
sea  saw  Him  and  fled  ;  Sinai  reeled  like  a  boy's  top  on  the 
pavement ;  the  mountains  skipped  like  lambs.  When  God 
comes,  you  will  have  no  need  to  manufacture  signs,  and  to 
try  and  make  nothing  appear  something.  When  God 
comes,  when  there  is  a  real,  rushing  revival,  sinners  will  be 
crying  out ;  saints  will  be  bright  and  beautiful,  everything 
will  be  altered.  There  will  be  no  mistake  about  it.  Saint 
and  sinner  alike  will  know  when  God  comes. 

The  trouble  with  us  is,  just  now,  that  in  many  cases  and 
places  we  are  tempted  to  manufacture  signs,  and  to  make 
out  that  there  is  "  something  "  when  there  is  "  nothing  "  ; 
there  is  nothing,  at  any  rate,  equal  to  the  promises,  nothing 
commensurate  with  the  need.  How  many  Church  statistics 
are  made  up  neither  by  Elijah  nor  by  Elijah's  servant  ! 
How  many  Churches  in  their  annual  report  are  prone  to 
say  there  is  something  when  there  is  nothing  !  If  the 
office-bearers  could  only  just  get  grace  to  come  to  the  con- 
gregation and  say,  "  There  is  nothing,"  it  would  be  the  best 
report  that  congregation  ever  received  !  The  accursed  thing 
is,  that  we  try  to  make  out  there  is  something ;  and  because 
we  think  there  is  something,  we  stop  prayer  and  rise  off  our 
knees.     We  say  it  is  all  right  now  somehow,  whether  it  is  or 


teCBE  A«OUT  PRAYER — ANOTHER  "  IMPORTUNATE."  289 

not,  and  we  get  up  and  brush  the  dust  off  our  knees.  It  is 
not,  as  I  said  before,  au  heroic  attitude — it  does  not  pose 
well ;  it  does  not  look  nice.  And,  in  fact,  there's  nobody 
to  look  ;  it's  quite  too  personal  and  private  for  some  folks, 
is  prayer  for  blessing. 

How  is  it  in  your  congregation,  in  your  church,  in  your 
chapel,  in  your  Bible-class  ?  How  is  it  in  your  Sunday- 
school,  at  your  ain  fireside,  my  decent  mother  ?  Tell 
the  truth,  there  is  nothing,  nothing,  nothuig.  The  world  has 
it  all.  Not  a  sign.  Now,  before  God,  is  there  a  single  sign  ? 
If  there  is  not,  face  the  fact,  and  keep  on  praying.  Do  not 
tell  lies  to  your  own  heart.  Be  not  deceived ;  God  is  not 
mocked.  Statistics  can  be  got  up  out  of  nothing.  The 
only  element  of  creative  power  that  seems  to  be  left  at 
times  is  the  creative  power  of  statistics — mere  fancy  and 
imagination.  Now,  if  there  is  nothing,  accept  it.  It  is  a 
trying  thing  —  it  is  a  staggering  thing,  that  answer,  six 
times  repeated:  nothing,  nothing,  nothing,  nothing,  nothing, 
NOTHING  !  I  was  not  there ;  but  you  may  take  my  word 
for  it,  it  took  more  out  of  Elijah  than  all  he  did  on  the 
hill-top  butchering  the  priests  ;  and  I  find  no  fault  with 
that;  'twas  the  law  of  God,  and  the  "  fause  loons  "  were 
well  away.  But  this  is  a  thing  to  make  the  judgment  reel : 
Is  God  going  to  leave  me  ?  Are  the  heavens  above  to  be 
silent  to  the  voice  of  my  prayer  ?  Is  the  promise  not  to  be 
fulfilled  ?  Has  God  spoken,  and  are  His  words  to  be  men's 
words,  mere  mouth  and  breath  with  nothing  in  them  ? 
When  the  Church  realizes  that,  it  never  does  her  any 
harm.  She  just  grips  God  higher  up  ;  grips  Him  closer, 
and  lays  hold  tighter,  and  pulls  herself  up  to  the  light  of 
His  very  face,  and  says,  **  My  God,  hear  me — Jiear  me !  " 
And  she  never  needs  to  wait  long. 

Do  not  get  up  an  excuse  for  getting  off  your  knees  if  it  is 
not  time.  Depend  upon  it,  I  repeat  it,  when  God  does 
come,  you  will  know — ^we  will  know  in  Kegent  Square ;  we 
will  know  it  in  our  prayer  meeting,  in  our  Sunday-schools; 


290  MORE  ABOUT  PRAYER — ANOTHER  **  IMPORTUNATE." 

we  will  know  it  at  Aldenham  Street,  at  Aldenham  Institute; 
wherever  the  blackness,  and  the  dreariness,  and  the  dry- 
ness is,  when  God  fulfils  the  promises — and  that  will  be 
when  we  have  prayed  them  to  the  full ;  then  there  will  be 
no  need  to  doubt — nobody  will  question  it.  Even  unbelievers 
will  say,  "  Behold  what  God  hath  wrought !  " 

"  When  Zion's  bondage  God  turned  back, 
Like  men  that  dreamed  were  we  ; 
Then  filled  with  laughter  was  our  mouth, 
Our  tongue  with  melody." 

We  gladly  ceased  writing  dreary  reports ;  trying  to  make 
out  that  meetings  were  full  that  were  empty,  and  that 
although  it  was  not  a  great  year  of  "extension,"  it  was  a 
wonderful  year  of  "consolidation  " ;  and  juggling  our  judg- 
ment with  phrases — "  Master,  we  have  toiled  all  night, 
and  have  caught  nothing."  And  that  was  true.  So  we 
may  do  in  Christ's  work ;  so  toil  at  preaching  and  toil  at 
praying,  and  the  servant  must  honestly  report  who  is  on 
the  outlook,  "  Nothing,  nothing,  nothing !  "  But  when  God 
comes,  "  Then  said  they  among  the  heathen,  The  Lord  hath 
done  great  things  for  them." 

Oh,  don't,  I  repeat  again — don't  attempt  to  make  out  that 
God  is  blessing  you  when  He  is  not.  The  dismal  fact  is 
that  He  is  not,  He  is  not !  We  make-believe  that  He  is, 
instead  of  being  in  an  agony  because  He  isn't.  And  it  is 
out  of  the  stress  and  agony  that  the  blessing  will  come, 
without  any  make-believe.  "  Elijah  cast  himself  down  on 
the  earth  with  his  face  between  his  knees,  and  said  to  his 
servant,  Go  up,  and  look  towards  the  sea.  And  he  went 
up,  and  looked,  and  came  and  said,  Nothing.  And  he 
said,  Go  again  unto  seven  times,"  and  the  seventh  time 
there  was  something.  Seven  in  Scripture  is  the  perfect 
number.  Let  our  waiting  on  God  be  complete,  entire ;  let 
us  depend  altogether  on  Him,  altogether  on  prayer  to 
Him,  casting  ourselves  and  our  burden  into  that  seem- 
ingly empty  void,  that  "nothing"  into  which,  according 


MORE  ABOUT  PRAYER — ANOTHER  **  IMPORTUNATE."  291 

to  science  and  philosophy,  prayer  goes,  and  finding  that 
empty  void  is  filled  with  the  everlasting  arms  that  are 
waiting  to  grip  us.  Naaman  got  his  blessing  and  got 
rid  of  his  leprosy  both  of  body  and  of  spirit  when  he 
obeyed  perfectly  Elijah's  word,  "  Go  wash  seven  times."  Six 
and  **  a  bittock "  would  not  do.  "  And  when  he  dipped 
seven  times,  his  flesh  came  to  him  again  like  a  little  child, 
and  he  was  clean."  So  with  beHevers,  God  has  just  the 
one  path  for  us  all,  the  path  of  loyal  obedience  and  per- 
severance. Who  is  it  says — it  is  like  Bishop  Hall — **  Hope 
holds  up  the  head  of  prayer,  and  perseverance  crowns  it  "  ? 
There  is  the  whole  thing  symbolized,  hope  holding  up  the* 
head  of  prayer,  and  perseverance  putting  on  the  golden 
crown  of  the  abundant  answer.  At  the  seventh  time, 
"  Behold,  there  ariseth,"  said  the  servant,  "  a  little  cloud 
out  of  the  sea,  like  a  man's  hand.  And  he  said,  Go  up, 
and  say  unto  Ahab,  Make  ready  thy  chariot,  and  get  thee 
down,  that  the  rain  stop  thee  not.  And  it  came  to  pass  in 
a  little  while,  that  the  heavens  grew  black  with  clouds  and 
wind,  and  there  was  a  great  rain."  Now,  this  is  very 
stimulating.  Elijah  is  worth  watching  from  the  time  he 
goes  up  to  the  time  he  comes  down.  God  has  put  great 
meanings  into  all  this  Bible,  and  we  miss  them,  for  we 
think  we  know  them,  and  we  do  not ;  for  we  were  never 
there.  How  many  in  this  congregation  have  bowed  the 
knee  and  risen  again ;  how  many  of  us  have  done  this  thing, 
bowed  the  knee  where  Elijah  did,  and  kept  down  when  you 
would  rather  have  been  rising,  for  it  is  getting  to  be  faint- 
ing work  ?  And  then  rising,  when  it  is,  no  doubt,  time  to 
rise,  and  to  do  the  next  thing. 

"  Behold,"  he  said,  **  there  is  a  cloud,  like  a  man's  hand." 
And  Elijah  sprang  to  his  feet.  How  like  us,  and  how  un- 
like us.  What  remarkable  faith  he  must  have  had,  that 
from  a  cloud  the  size  of  a  man's  hand  he  inferred  a  blackened 
heaven  and  such  a  deluge  as  had  not  been  for  years.  If  it 
is  God  who  has  sent  the  something,  then  go  on  and  infer 


292     MORE    ABOUT   PRAYER — ANOTHER    "IMPORTUNATE." 

the  largest  and  the  widest.  If  God  shows  His  little  finger, 
argue  His  whole  body,  and  He  will  never  put  you  to  con- 
fusion. From  a  cloud  the  size  of  a  man's  hand,  Elijah 
argued  the  whole  answer  to  God's  promise.  There  was  a 
difficulty  there,  though  of  a  natural  kind ;  and  it  is  worth 
while  noticing  it,  for  it  troubles  us  to-day.  We  are  living  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  and  we  feel  the  current  of  it.  We 
find  that  the  "  thrapple  "  of  prayer  is  often  constricted,  the 
wind-pipe  nearly  choked — thus  :  "  Ah  !  "  Elijah  might  have 
said,  "how  do  I  know  that  is  from  God?"  Because,  to 
this  very  day,  there  are  sudden  storms  that  come  in 
the  Levant,  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean,  and 
they  come  just  in  this  way.  In  all  tropical  countries 
you  have  something  like  this,  so  travellers  tell  us. 
The  sky  is  blazing  and  burning,  and  suddenly  there  is  a 
little  cloud,  and  another  passes  to  it,  and  the  clouds  seem 
to  be  chasing  one  another ;  and  the  electric  spark  leaps 
out,  and  there  is  the  bursting  of  thunder,  and  the  heavens 
blacken,  and  the  cyclone  is  tearing  up  creation !  And 
Elijah,  being  a  hill-countryman,  had  very  likely  seen  all 
this  before,  and  he  might  have  staggered  himself  and 
choked  himself  with  "  natural "  considerations.  Is  this  from 
God?  He  might  have  said,  "It  is  only  a  natural  thing, 
and  has  nothing  to  do  with  my  praying."  Professor  Huxley 
might  have  crept  into  him,  millenniums  before  his  date,  and 
said,  "  Let  me  see — oh,  it  is  only  coincidence  ;  it  is  a  natural 
thing ;  it  can  be  explained,  from  top  to  bottom,  on  natural 
causes."  Now,  I  believe  that  makes  God  hold  back  the 
blessing.  When  God  sends  us  a  blessing.  He  sends  it  along 
natural  channels,  but  He  does  expect  that  His  people  will 
give  Him  the  credit,  and  give  Prayer  its  place,  and  not  this 
hideous  idol  called  "  nature  "  and  **  law."  Nature  is  but 
another  name  for  an  effect  whose  cause  is  God  ;  and  Elijah 
was  never  troubled  with  these  things.  He  never  thought, 
"  This  is  just  a  natural  thing  in  the  country,  and  happens 
to  coincide  with  my  prayer."     He  gave  God  aU  the  glory; 


MORE  ABOUT  TEAYER — ANOTHER  " IMrORTUNATE."  293 

he  believed  God  was  his  Cloud-compeller,  to  use  Homer's 
phrase  ;  God  was  his  Eain-maker. 

How  often  we  offend  God!  Is  there  a  sign  of  abundance? 
Are  there  tokens  that  God  is  with  us  ?  Straightway  we 
begin  to  explain  it  away.  Did  you  not  some  time  ago, 
when  in  Holborn  Hall  on  Sunday  afternoons  thousands  of 
people  gathered,  come  to  me  and  say,  "This  can  be  explained 
on  natural  causes :  Londoners  do  not  go  to  church  in  the 
afternoon ;  the  churches  are  opened  morning  and  evening ; 
and  if  you  start  a  meeting  in  the  afternoon,  of  course  you 
get  the  crowds  "  ?  And  we  explained  it  away  by  natural 
causes.  It  wasn't  God,  and  Faith,  and  Prayer,  and  the 
Promises ;  it  was  simply  advertising,  and  luck,  and  so  on.  I 
think  God  withdraws  Himself  at  such  a  time  for  awhile, 
and  says,  **  I  will  leave  you  to  natural  causes  and  adver- 
tising, and  to  the  unbelief  that  is  in  you."  We  do  not  give 
Him  the  credit  or  the  glory.  How  often  we  hear  it  all 
round  about  us.  Let  God  come  in  answer  to  our  prayers 
and  do  something  striking,  do  something  unusual,  and  then 
there  is  this  accursed  trick  in  His  people's  hearts — we  try 
to  explain  it  away.  The  moment  He  comes,  we  try  to  make 
out  that  it  is  not  He,  it  is  "  law  "  ;  we  try  to  find  ways  by 
which  it  can  be  disconnected  from  God,  not  ways  by  which 
it  can  more  certainly  be  run  up  into  His  Word,  and  Grace, 
and  Providence.  Let  us  learn  from  Elijah,  while  not  de- 
spising secondary  causes,  to  believe  in  God,  to  trace  all  to 
Him  who  still  sends  the  natural  rain  as  well  as  the 
spiritual  rain.  All  things  are  rooted  in  His  hand  ;  "  Praise 
God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 

"  Behold,  there  ariseth  a  little  cloud  out  of  the  sea,  like  a 
man's  hand."  What  a  little  thing  shows  the  greatness  of 
God's  power,  and  the  nearness  of  God's  presence  !  It  has 
been  put  thus  by  some  one  :  If  I  were  like  Elijah  ;  if  some 
hardened  sinner  in  this  church  this  morning  showed  this 
little  "sound,"  if  he  showed  the  moisture  gathering  in  the 
eye,  a  twitching  about  his  lips,  and  a  tear  trickling  down 


294  MOKE  ABOUT  PRAYER — ANOTHER  "IMPORTUNATE." 

his  hard,  withered,  pharisaic  cheek,  I  should  infer  from  that 
little  cloud  a  broken  heart,  a  contrite  spirit,  a  redeemed, 
saved  soul.  But  the  moment  a  tear  appears,  I  begin  to 
explain  it  away  on  natural  grounds.  Oh,  I  say  to  myself, 
(when  I  have  preached  and  have  seen  somebody  impressed) 
I  go  away  down  into  the  vestry  and  begin  to  explain  it 
away ;  that  last  illustration  I  used  was  somewhat  moving, 
and  it  touched  the  sympathetic  nerve  that  is  even  in  the 
hearts  of  worldhngs;  and  the  sympathetic  nerve  being 
touched,  the  tear  started.  That  is  the  thing :  get  God 
away  from  it ;  make  it  simply  natural,  ordinary,  having  no 
roots  behind.  Now,  Elijah  was  not  like  that ;  this  cloud,  no 
bigger  than  a  man's  hand,  meant  to  him  God  coming  back 
to  Israel,  God  being  as  good  as  He  had  said.  And  if  we 
were  like  him,  and  I  trust  we  will  get  to  be  like  him,  when 
we  see  these  little  signs  we  will  infer  great  things. 

There  is  a  man  perhaps  in  this  church  to-day  who  has 
not  been  in  church  or  chapel  for  twenty  years ;  and  perhaps 
we  will  say  even  now  it  is  not  much,  and  it  might  be  easily 
explained  away.  You  have  come  through  curiosity,  you 
have  come  because  somebody  pegged  away  at  you  and 
brought  you  here  at  last ;  when  pressed  by  them,  you  came. 
And  we  could  explain  it  that  way.  God  help  us  to  trust  to 
Him  for  the  biggest  things ;  the  Lord  help  us  to  involve  Him, 
and  to  show  Him  that  we  have  big  expectations  out  of  this, 
and  that  He  is  not  to  disappoint  us — He  must  not  disappoint 
us.  So  that  I  am  right  to  infer  that  if  you  have  never  been 
in  a  church  or  chapel  for  twenty  years,  but  are  here  to-day — 
well,  well,  being  a  Presbyterian,  I  cannot  get  up  my  breath 
to  say  **  Hallelujah,"  but  it  is  working,  it  is  wanting  to  come; 
— only  being  (ah  !  a  brother  in  the  gallery  here  says  it  for 
me) — being  naturally  cautious,  being  Scotchmen  first  and 
believers  afterwards,  shall  I  say  we  are  not  just  sure  if  we  may 
say  ''Hallelujah,"  even  when  you  come  to  us  and  say  you  are 
converted  ?  We  won't  say  "  Hallelujah,"  then,  either  ;  we 
will  wait  till  we  see  you  in  heaven,  and,  I  suppose,  if  we  get 


MORE   ABOUT   PI^AYER — ANOTHER   "IMPORTUNATE."     295 

there"^  ourselves  (if  they  take  such  people  iu),  we  shall  be 
done  with  our  doubting,  and  begin  with  our  shouting.  But, 
anyway,  I  want  to  get  that  point  rubbed  in :  this  God  of 
Elijah  is  with  us  in  Regent  Square  to-day.  He  has  given 
UB  His  word  of  promise.  For  certain  things.  He  has  given 
us  a  distinct  promise.  As  to  other  things,  you  need  to  ask 
the  question,  "  Is  this  in  accordance  with  the  mind  and 
will  of  God?  "  But  for  the  greatest  of  all  blessings,  what  is 
symbolized  by  the  big,  dancing  rain  coming  to  the  cracking 
earth,  we  have  a  big,  standing  promise  for  that.  All  the  machi- 
nery to  answer  that  promise  is  fixed  in  the  economy  of  Grace. 
Since  Pentecost  it  has  been  the  order  of  the  day.  Why, 
then,  are  we  without  it  ?  God  is  not  to  blame,  and  the  need 
is  all  about  us.  Ah  !  we  do  not  pray ;  we  do  not  plead. 
We  get  up  too  soon  from  our  knees ;  we  make  the  worse 
appear  the  better  reason ;  we  go  away,  saying,  "  Well, 
maybe  it  is  not  God's  will ;  and  the  times  are  not  in  our 
hands,  and  we  must  not  compel  God  to  do  things  as  we 
think."  Yes,  but  even  God  Himself  can  only  send  rain  in 
one  way,  and  that  is  by  sending  it  down;  and  rain  is 
rain,  and  it  manifests  itself  by  the  way  it  "drooks"  you. 
Revival  is  revival ;  saved  souls  are  saved  souls,  and  when 
they  appear  there  is  no  doubt  about  them.  If  then  the 
shower  is  not  falling,  why  not  ?  For  it  is  needed,  and  it  is 
promised.     The  parched  ground  is  all  round  about  us. 

Then  there  is  the  '*  sound."  There  is,  in  the  word  of 
promise,  that  "  sooch  "  that  is  for  ever  breathing  and  sigh- 
ing through  the  Church  ;  it  is  the  very  breath  of  Pentecost 
that  never  leaves  us.  Pentecost  has  never  been  with- 
drawn ;  that  "  sough,"  I  say,  is  in  the  very  air  of  the 
New  Testament  dispensation  continually :  the  sound  and 
promise  of  abundant  rain.  Now,  if  it  is  being  answered 
ever  so  little,  why  is  it  not  being  answered  more  ?  Why 
is  it  not  being  answered  to  the  hilt  ?  Why  not  to  the 
full?  These  are  tough  and  awkward  questions  for  me 
and    you,   for    all    the    office-bearers,   and    workers,   and 


296     MOEE    ABOUT    PRAYER — ANOTHER   "IMPORTUNATE." 

believers  of  Eegent  Square.  Why  is  there  not  more 
blessing?  Is  the  Lord's  arm  shortened?  Is  the  Lord 
among  us,  or  not  ?  Is  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  straitened  ? 
Then,  what  is  wrong  ?  Christ  is  risen ;  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
given,  the  magnificent  promises  are  there,  there  is  "  a-going 
in  the  tops  of  the  mulberry-trees,"  the  sound  of  the  abund- 
ance of  rain.  But  then  there  is  now  nothing  but  just  the 
dribble,  one  big  splash  here,  and  another  there.  Well, 
thank  God  for  them  !  for  the  big  drops  that  wet  the  pave- 
ment one  by  one,  so  that  your  lad  begins  to  count  them 
going  home — one,  two,  three.  Thank  God  for  the  drops ! 
But  then  the  point  is,  that  the  drops  argue  the  outpour  ;  and 
what  keeps  that  back  ?  Why  is  there  not  a  deluge,  with 
no  doubt  about  it  ?  Now,  I  push  that  upon  myself,  upon 
all  the  office-bearers,  upon  all  our  communicants,  all  our 
teachers,  all  our  heads  of  households.  Do  you  want  to  see 
the  parched  wilderness  turned  into  a  fruitful  field  ?  Then 
rain  is  needed,  rain  is  needed.  That  means  that  persevering 
personal  prayer  is  needed ;  that  means  the  whole-souled 
offering  up  of  one's  self  to  God  in  prayer.  Thank  God,  I 
say,  for  the  little;  for  it  argues  the  much.  Is  anybody 
being  quickened  ?  We  are  glad  to  hear  it.  That  is  enough 
to  prove  that  God  is  there ;  that  the  Sinrit  is  with  us.  Oh 
for  the  abundance !  Oh  for  the  outpouring  !  "  And  it 
came  to  pass  in  the  meanwhile,  that  the  heaven  was  black 
with  clouds  and  wind,  and  there  was  a  great  rain."  The 
Lord  grant  it  to  us ;  the  Lord  stir  us  up  to  pray  for  our- 
selves, for  our  own  congregation,  for  all  our  work  of  faith 
and  labour  of  love,  for  our  whole  city,  for  all  Christ's  cause 
everywhere;  pray — 

"  Revive  Thy  work,  O  Lord, 
Thy  work  of  quickening  power, 
O'er  earth's  vast  wilderness  pour  down 
The  Pentecostal  shower. 

"  Revive  Thy  work,  O  Lord, 
In  this  our  favoured  isle, 
With  floods  of  life  and  light  Divine, 
Let  all  her  borders  smile."  Amen, 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


Jlegent  <§qMre  Jwlpit. 


WHILE  THE  CHILDEEN  ABE  ABOUT  US. 


%  Sermon 

Preached  in  Begent  Square  Church, 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL 


*' When  my  children  were  about  me." — Job  xxix.  5. 

Job  ntters  this  expression  in  a  dull,  somewhat  despairing, 
lamenting  tone.  I  shall  scarcely  use  it  that  way;  but, 
putting  it  into  the  present  tense,  I  shall  ask  you  to  gather 
round  this  Scripture  to  find  out  what  it  may  suggest  to  us — 
as  parents  and  teachers  of  the  young  while  our  children  are 
about  us.  We  are  not  looking  back  sadly  and  dolefully  this 
morning,  mourning  that  they  are  gone.  We  shall  rather 
think  of  them  as  being  young  and  with  us,  and  ask  ourselves 
the  question,  What  are  we  to  do  with  them? — for  they  will 
not  always  be  with  us.  They  must  take  wing.  The  home- 
nest  must  be  broken  up.  They  must  fly  away.  And  "  the 
reaper  whose  name  is  death"  will  come,  "with  his  sickle 
keen,"  to  reap  not  only  "  the  bearded  grain  at  a  breadth," 

Owing  to  the  Easter  Holidays  and  the  Preacher's  absence  on  a 
special  mission  at  Berwick,  he  puts  into  his  readers'  hands  this  week  and 
next  week  two  discourses  preached  some  time  a^o.  They  were  useful 
at  the  time  of  delivery,  and  were  mu6h  asked  for. 

Vol.  III.— No.  20. 


298        WHILE  THE  CHILDBEN  ARE  ABOUT  US. 

but  "  the  flowers  that  grow  between."  So,  whether  we  are 
on  the  way  to  bereavement,  or  whether  our  children  are 
for  a  long  while  to  be  round  about  us,  let  us  take  Job's  word 
and  apply  it  to  present  conditions,  "  while  our  children  are 
about  us." 

And  first  of  all,  a  word  to  fathers  and  mothers. 

While  the  children  are  about  us,  let  us  make  home  as 
happy  as  possible.  I  had  almost  begun  by  saying  that  I 
am  glad  I  am  not  the  boy  or  the  girl  that  lives  in  some 
homes,  or  I  would  run  away.  I  would  rather  be  in  a 
penitentiary.  I  would  rather  be  anywhere  than  just  there. 
If  your  boys  and  girls  are  the  boys  and  girls  belonging  to 
such  people,  if  they  have  any  notion  after  brightness,  after 
vivacity,  after  good  cheer,  after  joy  and  sunshininess  and 
heartiness — they  will  very  likely  be  con  polled  to  go  outside 
and  get  it.  They  will  not  get  it  inaide.  They  have  such 
sour  plums  for  fathers  and  mothers  that  I  do  not  wonder 
that  their  young  teeth  are  set  on  edge,  and  when  they  think 
of  fun  or  frolic,  they  jam  their  hat  on  their  head  and 
incontinently  rush  out.  If  you  will  allow  me  a  personal 
reminiscence  :  I  thank  God  that  I  was  not  brought  up  that 
way,  or  rather,  neglected  that  way.  I  thank  God  that  my 
earliest  reminiscences  are  of  such  a  kind  that  home  was  the 
happiest  and  the  heartiest  place.  We  will  solve  this  awful, 
weary  problem  in  London  about  music-halls  and  places  of 
recreation  to  a  very  great  extent,  if  only  while  our  children 
are  about  us  we  make  home  to  be  homely,  and  a  great  deal 
fuller  of  sunshine  of  a  human  kind,  mark  you,  than  it  is.  I 
am  going  to  speak  by-and-bye  about  the  spiritual  side,  but 
just  now  I  am  speaking  about  the  human  side.  I  remember 
well  my  father.  He  is  gone  now ;  I  thought  that  there  was 
nobody  in  the  village  so  hearty.     I  thought  that  nobody 


WHILE   THE   CHILDREN   ARE   ABOUT   US.  299 

could  laugh  so  heartily  and  show  such  a  mouthful  of  white 
teeth,  and  such  a  widely-open  pair  of  cheerful,  bright  blue 
eyes. 

Are  you  thus  to  your  children  ?  Are  you  photographing 
upon  the  sensitive  plate  of  their  memory  and  imagination 
riuch  photographs  as  those  which,  blessed  be  God,  hang  all 
round  the  walls  of  the  room  where  all  these  pictures  of  my 
past  are  kept  ?  You  sometimes  complain  of  us  preachers 
that  in  the  pulpit  here  we  are  unnatural;  we  are  stiff;  we 
are  stilted ;  we  are  stuck  up.  Thank  you.  The  same  to 
you.  At  home  you  are  just  precisely  so.  You  seem  never 
to  be  able  to  unbend.  Are  you  a  business  man  down  in  the 
City  ?  You  seem  to  think  at  home  that  you  are  still  sitting 
at  the  directors'  board.  For  any  sake  lay  that  aside  ;  and 
between  the  dark  and  the  daylight,  when  the  night  is 
beginning  to  lower,  let  there  be 

"  A  ]»ause  in  the  day's  occupations, 
Which  is  known  as  the  children's  hour,** 

and  renew  your  youth  with  a  romp  among  the  children. 
To  utter  the  word  "romp"  in  this  somewhat  venerable- 
headed  assembly  seems  to  be  very  audacious  indeed.  Yet 
•I  dare  say  it.  We  are  growing  too  old ;  we  are  growing  far 
too  prodigiously  wise,  especially  if  at  home  we  are  leading 
our  children  to  wonder  if  ever  we  were  children,  and  if  ever 
ive  did  any  of  the  fearfully  naughty  things  that  they  are 
doing.  Let  us  get  a  little  closer  home  to  our  children,  for 
almost  whilst  I  am  talking  their  heads  are  shooting  up  to 
your  shoulders  ;  ay,  and  past  them.  Even  although  death 
does  not  come  and  scatter  them — even  while  they  are  about 
us,  there  is  a  sense  in  which  the  child  is  every  moment 
changing  and  leaving  us.  While  our  children  are  children 
and  are  about  us,  do  let  us  be  human.     Do  not  let  us  bring 


300       WHILE  THE  CHILDREN  ARE  ABOUT  US. 

them  up  in  a  cold,  dry,  or  frosty  atmosphere.  Again  I  say, 
if  I  were  a  child  in  some  homes  I  think  that  I  should 
"  bolt."  And  it  is  not  that  I  am  speaking  of  wicked  fathers, 
drunken  fathers,  or  slatternly  mothers — no,  no  ;  but  vastly 
correct  people.  Thank  God  I  never  knew  them  at  home. 
They  are  wonderfully  correct,  wonderfully  well-dressed,  and 
wonderfully  polite ;  and  yet  their  children,  as  soon  as  ever 
they  become  able  to  choose  their  own  ways,  and  to  choose 
their  own  pleasures,  seek  their  pleasures  as  far  away  from 
them  as  possible.  And  that  is  the  black  mark  I  have 
against  you.  Fun  at  home !  Oh,  no,  no !  The  two  words 
should  never  be  quoted  together.  While  our  children  art 
about  us,  let  some  of  us  be  a  great  deal  more  human  than 
we  have  been.  I  am  speaking  about  a  small  thing,  but  a 
great  deal  grows  out  of  it. 

While  our  children  are  about  us,  let  us  have  heartiness 
and  good  cheer  at  home,  and  if  you  are  a  **  jokey  "  man  in 
the  City,  be  jocular  at  home.  If  there  is  a  turn  of  humour 
in  you  down  town,  you  hypocrite,  let  us  have  it  at  home. 
Not  only  so,  but  I  was  going  to  say  further,  let  us  have  a 
little  more  of  religion,  and  a  little  better,  while  our  children 
are  about  us  at  home — a  little  more  of  true  spirituality. 

I  am  going  to  speak  about  family  worship,  and  yet  I  must 
be  very  careful  and  guard  myself,  because  I  almost  wish 
that  some  parents  **  while  their  children  are  about  them  " 
would  stop  family  worship.  It  is  the  driest,  most  wizened 
thing  that  the  mind  can  conceive.  You  are  giving  your 
children  a  bias  against  religion  before  I  get  a  hold  of  them. 
Their  very  earliest  associations  with  prayers,  and  with  the 
reading  of  God's  Word,  and  with  the  acts  of  religion  are 
unhappily  of  a  fatal  kind.  Before  they  get  time  to  come  to 
church,  and  find  out  whether  at  church  we  are  so  stiff  and 


WHILE   THE   CHILDREN   ARE   ABOUT  US.  301 

formidable  as  the  report  is,  you  have  done  the  business,  for 
they  meet  with  you.  It  is  right  by  all  means— God  forbid 
that  I  should  say  a  word  against  family  prayer  or  family 
religion,  I  am  going  to  enforce  it,  but  I  want  to  see  spirit- 
uality of  a  little  more  natural  kind.  Try  to  show  to  the 
children,  while  the  children  are  about  us,  that  religion  is 
not  a  more  or  less  elaborate  make-believe,  but  that  talking 
to  Jesus  in  prayer  is  just  the  same  as  their  talking  to  you 
in  dayhght  reality;  it  is  the  outflowing  of  a  loving  heart. 
Again  I  ask  you  to  allow  me  to  talk  about  my  own  experi- 
ence, for  I  know  that  best.  I  am  not  going  to  say  that  my 
father  was  a  perfect  man.  Oh,  no,  no!  As  I  grew  up  I 
got  to  see,  as  your  children  will  grow  up  and  see,  imper- 
fections, extravagances,  and  things  over,  and  things  under  ; 
but  he  put  this  impress  upon  me  very  early.  I  was  dyed 
"  in  the  wool,"  so  to  speak;  that  is  the  right  time  to  get 
dyed.  That  will  wear  and  wash,  and  not  wash  out.  I  was 
dyed  in  the  wool,  with  a  natural  instinctive  reverence  for 
the  name  of  God,  the  Book  of  God,  the  day  of  God,  and  the 
house  of  God.  I  cannot  tell  when  it  began.  All  I  know  is 
that  these  things  never  were  to  me  a  sham  or  an  unreality. 
There  was  always  a  homely  look  about  them.  I  was 
naturally  inclined  towards  them,  because  at  home  I  was 
brought  up  to  feel  them.  Oh,  I  remember  the  parental 
prayers.  Not  a  man  of  education  was  the  beloved  one 
whom  I  have  mentioned  so  often  to  you  ;  not  a  man  of 
wealth,  not  a  man  of  social  position,  not  a  man  of  great 
powers  of  speech ;  just  the  kind  of  man  who  looks  up  in 
your  face  to-day  and  says,  "  Well,  but,  sir,  I  cannot  pray 
at  home.  No,  I  cannot  do  it."  I  do  not  believe  a  bit  of  it. 
You  are  not  trying.  That  man  could,  and  I  think  you 
could  if  you  tried.     And  what  I  used  to  be  amazed  at  as  a 


302  WHILE   THE   CHILDREN   ARE    ABOUT  US. 

lad,  as  far  back  as  I  can  mind,  was  that  when  old  John 
McNeil — alas !  alas !  I  feel  what  Luther  said  when  his 
father  died,  "  I  am  old  John  McNeil  now "  —  but  I 
remember  how  he  used  to  stand,  and  although  he  was 
strong  and  stubborn  if  he  took  it  into  his  head,  and  certainly 
not  to  be  trifled  with,  as  my  poor  body  knew,  still,  when  he 
named  the  name  of  God  I  found  him  at  the  softest.  I 
never  can  remember  a  prayer  that  he  began  and  ended 
without  his  voice  breaking  and  his  eyes  a  little  moist.  I 
have  seen  him  go  through  many  hardships,  and  seen  him 
go  through  many  trials,  and  his  eyes  never  filled,  and  his 
lips  never  quivered,  he  bore  all  calmly ;  but  in  prayer  he 
melted.  May  God  multiply  the  number  of  fathers  and 
mothers  like  that  who  give  the  children,  while  the  children 
are  about  them,  an  instinctive  regard  for  and  notion 
of  the  reality  of  the  name  of  God,  and  the  Book  of 
God,  and  the  worship  of  God,  and  the  day  of  God,  and  the 
house  of  God.  What  a  splendid  endowment  I  got,  although 
I  was  not  born  with  a  silver  spoon  in  my  mouth.  And  if 
any  of  you  have  been  born  with  a  silver  spoon  in  your  mouth, 
give  it  to  me.  For  any  sake  get  rid  of  that  silver  spoon. 
Spurgeon  was  saying  the  other  day  that  it  choked  some  people. 
Here  is  the  real  endowment  to  give  to  our  children ;  here  is 
the  real  heritage  to  give  to  them  "while  they  are  about  us." 
I  can  think  of  no  better  outfit  for  sending  out  your  lads  and 
your  girls  to  the  ends  of  the  earth ;  and  the  ends  of  the 
earth  are  opening  their  doors  for  your  children  increasingly 
every  day  we  live.  If  you  want  to  equip  them  and  endow 
them,  do  not  give  them  a  lump  of  money.  I  deny  that  a 
lump  of  money  is  what  your  children  need.  I  absolutely 
deny  it.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  worst  thing  that  will  come  to 
them  when  the  will  is  read  after  you  are  gone.    But  give 


WHILE   THE   CHILDREN   ARE   ABOUT   US.  303 

them  this  endowment  of  love  for  the  name  of  God,  and  the 
day  of  God,  and  the  Book  of  God,  and  the  ways  of  God. 
And  they  cannot  turn  out  failures  after  that. 

While  the  children  are  about  us,  let  us  have  more  of 
making  the  rafters  ring  with  family  worship.  Children  are 
being  taught  to  sing  now  as  they  never  were  taught  before. 
Let  us  use  the  singing  to  the  best  account  at  home.  Homes 
ought  to  be  far  brighter  in  the  evenings  than  they  used  to 
be.  The  musical  gift  is  being  developed.  Use  it  in  the 
best  way,  especially  at  the  close  of  the  day,  to  cheer  your 
own  heart,  and  lift  away  your  own  cares,  making  your 
children,  while  they  are  about  you,  sing  the  songs  of  Zion. 

"  The  cheerfu'  supper  done,  wi'  serious  face, 
They  round  the  ingle  form  a  circle  wide  ; 
The  sire  turns  o'er,  wi*  patriarchal  grace, 
The  big  ha'  Bible  ance  his  father's  pride  : 
His  bonnet  rev'rently  is  laid  aside, 
His  lyart  haffets  wearing  thin  an'  bare, 
Those  strains  that  once  did  sweet  in  Zion  glide, 
He  wales  a  portion  with  judicious  care  ; 
And,  '  Let  us  worship  God  I '  he  says  with  solemn  air.** 

Then  we  remember  the  singing — 

"  Perhaps  *  Dundee's '  wild  warbling  measures  rise, 
Or  plaintive  '  Martyrs, '  worthy  of  the  name,  " 

Or  noble  *  Elgin '  beets  the  heavenward  flame." 

Then  the  prayer.  I  think  I  can  hear  the  shuffling  of  our 
feet  on  the  sanded  floor  as  we  turned  tp  kneel  in  prayer  * — 

•*  Then  kneeling  down  to  Heaven's  Eternal  King, 
The  saint,  the  father,  and  the  husband  prays  ; 
Hope  'springs  exulting  on  triumphant  wing,' 
That  thus  they  all  shall  meet  in  future  days  ; 
There  ever  bask  in  uncreated  rays, 
No  more  to  sigh  or  shed  the  bitter  tear, 
Together  hymning  their  Creator's  praise, 
In  such  society,  yet  still  more  dear, 
While  circling  time  moves  round  in  an  eternal  sphere.** 


304       WHILE  THE  CHILDEEN  ABE  ABOUT  jm. 

You  remember  it :  do  you  not  ?    Are  you  seeing  that  you 

are  giving   that  impress   to  your   children?    Oh,   I  feel 

inclined  to  go  on,  and  apply  not  only  to  Scotland,  but  to 

your  own   English  nation   (to  which  ,  we  belong ,  now,  in 

sympathy,  seeing  that  we  are  here),  and  to  all  the  nations 

of  the  earth,  what  the  poet  says  about  his  own  : 

"  From  scenes  like  these  old  Scotia's  grandeur  springs, 
That  makes  her  loved  at  home,  revered  abroad  ; 
Princes  and  lords  are  but  the  breath  of  kings, 
'  An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God.'  " 

May  you  be  a  man  like  that  to  the  children  while  they  are 
about  you. 

I  have  been  speaking  more  about  the  father,  but  I  do  not 
mean  to  let  the  mother  go.  What  is  home  without  a  mother? 
Ah !  it  is  a  great  loss.  Mother,  I  want  to  speak  to  you.  If 
I  could  bring  this  more  home  to  mothers,  I  would  almost 
take  my  own  wife  from  her  seat  and  set  her  in  the  front  and 
catechize  her,  if  it  would  bring  home  to  mothers  what  I  wish 
to  say  for  God  to  you  "  while  the  children  are  about  you." 
I  cannot  understand  the  mother  who  loves  her  children  as 
they  run  about  her  and  does  not  pray  for  them  and  with 
them,  no  matter  what  the  father  may  do.  Somebody  has 
said,  "If  I  could  convert  the  mothers,  I  would  save  the 
world  "  ;  and  you  know  the  familiar  phrase,  "  The  hand 
that  rocks  the  cradle  rules  the  world."  May  our  children 
be  saved  from  giddy,  frivolous,  gadabout  mothers,  or  from 
another  kind  of  mother  who,  I  am  afraid,  is  becoming  a 
little  too  common — the  mother  who,  when  she  was  a  young 
girl,  was  wonderfully  trained  in  all  worldly  training.  She 
can  dance,  she  can  sing,  she  can  play.  What  Continental 
language  does  she  not  know  ?  Now  she  has  got  married, 
and  the  children  are  beginning  to  rise  round  about  her ;  but, 
alas  !  they  are  away  to  the  nursery,  or  anywhere  and  every- 


WHILE    THE    CHILDREN,  ABE    ABOUT    US.  305 

where,  rather  than  on  her  lap  and  in  her  bosom.  From  such 
a  mother  may  the  nation  be  deUvered  !  Mothers,  while  the 
children  are  about  you,  give  them  what  no  other  one  can — 
not  the  father,  not  the  Sunday-school  teacher.  Give  this 
honour  to  none  but  yourself.  As  you,  and  you  alone,  bore 
them  and  suffered  for  them,  take  them  in  before  God,  in 
prayer  and  travail  as  in  birth,  till  they  be  born  a  second 
time — born  again  to  become  the  children  of  God  through 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  I  need  not  go  over  the  biographies 
of  eminent  men,  eminent  for  service  in  the  Church,  and 
eminent  for  service  in  the  State,  to  show  how,  time  and 
again  and  again,  they  themselves  attributed  their  safety 
and  all  their  success — the  fact  that  they  stood  where 
others  fell,  and  they  persevered  where  others  gave  in — to 
this,  that  when  they  were  young,  perhaps  in  some  obscure 
home,  their  mother  prayed  with  them  and  prayed  for  them. 
One  day,  long  ago,  a  lad  was  setting  out  from  a  home  in  Fife, 
in  Scotland.  He  was  setting  out  in  life.  His  childhood's 
days  were  done,  and  his  mother  was  going  along  the  road 
with  him,  and  that  mother  was  a  true  mother  in  Israel. 
He  was  not  converted;  but  at  the  turning  of  the  road, 
where  mother  and  son  parted  from  each  other,  "  Now, 
Eobert,"  said  the  mother,  "  just  one  thing  I  have  to  ask 
you,  and  you  will  promise  me  before  I  ask  you."  Robert 
was  somewhat  like  his  mother,  and  he  said,  **  No ;  I  will 
not  promise  until  I  know."  He  had  a  kind  of  notion  of 
what  the  promise  was  to  be.  "  Ah !  "  she  said  ;  "  now  it  is 
not  anything  that  will  trouble  you.  It  will  not  be  hard  or 
severe."  "Well,  mother,"  he  said,  "I  will."  "Promise 
me,"  she  said,  "  that  every  night  before  you  lie  down  to 
sleep  you  will  read  a  chapter  of  your  Bible  and  pray."  He 
screwed  his  face,  for  it  was  an  unpalatable  promise,  but  he 


30fi  WHILE   THE   CHILDREN  ARE   ABOUT   US. 

promised  it.  Who  was  that  Robert?  That  Robert  was 
Robert  Moffat,  and  Africa  is  coming  into  the  kingdom  of 
God  behind  him.  Mothers,  be  wise.  Seize  the  opportunity, 
and  if  father,  or  Sunday-school  teacher  lag  behind,  for  the 
sake  of  everything  I  charge  it  upon  you,  while  they  are 
about  you,  give  them  this  stamp  and  impress  for  God  and 
Christ  and  the  Bible  and  eternity. 

I  should  like  to  emphasize  this  by  a  consideration  that 
was  present  to  my  mind  just  a  little  time  ago.  To  empha- 
size all  this,  remember,  that  although  they  are  about 
us  to-day,  it  is  only  for  to-day.  Soon  the  morrow  will 
come,  when  you  will  look  round  and  miss  them.  There 
they  are  now  I  Dear  me,  how  fast  they  grow!  How 
our  Johnnies,  and  Jennies,  and  Marys  are  stretching 
up,  and  up,  and  up,  and  up  I  Such  a  little  while  ago  it 
seems  when  they  were  born,  and  now  how  tall  they  are  I 
Already  you  are  beginning  to  make  inquiries  among  your 
business  friends  where  you  can  place  out  that  hopeful  son  of 
yours.  Already  your  girl  is  budding  and  developing  into 
the  woman  that  you  remember  yourself  to  have  been  at 
what  seems  such  a  long  time  ago.  Remember  all  this. 
Remember  how  silently,  how  noiselessly,  and  yet  how  really 
our  children  are  changing  even  before  our  eyes.  You  can- 
not see  them  grow,  or  hear  them  grow,  any  more  than 
the  grass;  but  they  are  changing,  they  are  growing. 
While  they  are  about  you,  remember  that.  Under- 
stand the  world  into  which  they  are  going.  I  say  to 
all  fathers,  and  to  all  mothers,  and  Sabbath  -  school 
teachers,  understand  the  world  into  which  your  children 
are  going.  It  is  no  rosy  world ;  it  is  not  a  kind 
world ;  it  is  not  a  pure  world.  If  they  are  to  live  in 
London,   or  Liverpool,  or   Manchester,  or  Edinburgh,  or 


WHILE   THE   CHILDREN   AEE   ABOUT  US.  307 

Glasgow,  or  New  York,  or  Paris,  or  anywhere  else,  it  is  a 
bad  world  that  they  will  be  living  in.  Understand  that  at 
the  start.  I  might  say  while  your  children  are  about  you, 
give  them  a  bias — give  them  a  prejudice — against  drink, 
against  card-playing,  against  dancing,  against  music-hall  and 
theatre-going,  against  pantomime-seeing.  Yes;  I  say  it  delibe- 
rately. Understand  the  world  that  you  are  in.  Of  course,  do 
not  let  all  our  teaching  be  negative — **  Don't  do  this ;  don't  do 
that ;  don't  do  the  other  thing."  Develop  them  on  the 
positive  side,  and  give  them  such  sound,  and  pure,  and 
healthy  tastes,  especially  as  regards  music,  and  literature, 
and  recreation,  that  these  dead  flies  will  be  allowed  to  stick  to 
the  wall.  Train  them  up  so  that  they  will  have  that  "unction 
from  the  Holy  One,"  that  will  say  to  them,  "These  things  are 
of  the  earth  earthy :  they  are  of  the  flesh  fleshy.  They  do 
not  answer  my  tastes.  They  do  not  help  me.  Instinctively 
I  feel  that  they  are  destructive ;  they  are  soiling ;  they  are 
souring.  I  shall  pass  by  them,  turn  from  them  and  go  away." 
Now,  especially  about  the  drink.  Teetotalism  to  me 
is  so  obvious  that  I  find  it  difficult  to  preach  special 
sermons  about  it.  I  marvel  that  every  Christian  is  not 
a  teetotaler,  either  for  his  own  sake  or  some  other 
body's.  But  you  will  allow  me  to  say  a  word  about  it 
to-day.  While  the  children  are  about  you  let  the  side- 
board be  swept  clear  of  intoxicating  liquors.  Understand 
yourself ;  understand  them.  Understand  the  dangers  on 
every  hand  in  that  world  into  which  they  are  going. 
Remember  the  wreck  and  ruin  that  has  come  to  your  neigh- 
bour next  door,  in  your  own  square,  whose  son  has  gone 
down.  You  know  it ;  you  talk  about  it  in  whispered  utter- 
ances. You  heard  a  grand  racket,  it  may  be,  last  night ; 
and  it  was  his  son   coming   tumbling   home   drunk   in   a 


308  WHILE    THE   CHILDREN   ARE   ABOUT   US. 

hansom.  Take  care  of  your  own.  His  daughter  is  away 
down  the  giddy  dance  of  death.  Take  care  of  your  own. 
Your  children  are  just  as  Hkely  to  go  wrong  as  any  other 
person's,  just  because  they  are  your  bairns.  Sin  is  in  them. 
I  have  read  about  a  man — nay,  I  do  not  need  to  say  **  I 
have  read,"  for  the  man  came  to  me  and  said,  "  Minister,  I 
do  not  believe  in  that.  I  want  my  boys  and  my  girls  to  grow 
up,  and  to  find  out  things  without  prejudice  and  without 
bias.  I  do  not  wish  my  boy  to  go  to  a  Band  of  Hope. 
I  do  not  wish  my  boy  to  go  to  a  Sunday-school.  I  give 
them  my  own  example  and  my  own  training.  They  see 
nothing  morally  wrong  about  me."  The  poor — what  shall  I 
call  him  ? — the  poor  fatuous  blockhead  !  as  if  we  could 
keep  the  hearts,  and  imaginations,  and  minds  of  our 
children  like  an  unwritten  page.  Every  day  they  live,  the 
world,  and  the  devil,  and  the  flesh  are  certain  to  write  things 
there,  and  to  give  them  their  bias,  and  set,  and  prejudice. 
Eemember  that  when  the  prince  of  this  world  comes  to  them, 
in  one  or  another  of  his  thousand  ways,  he  does  not  find 
them  empty.  He  finds  something  in  them  of  himself,  of 
his  world,  of  his  maxims,  and  of  his  ways.  Therefore  you 
cannot  too  early  begin  to  give  your  children  a  set  to  what- 
soever things  are  pure,  and  temperate,  and  safe,  and  sound, 
physically,  morally,  spiritually — in  eating  and  drinking,  in 
dress,  in  recreation,  in  books  and  friendships.  While  the 
children  are  about  you  let  there  be  an  example  of  total 
abstinence  from  anything  that  has  the  savour  of  evil  and  of 
danger.  You  cannot  begin  too  soon.  Some  mothers  once 
were  discussing  the  question  when  to  begin  with  children. 
"  I  begin  at  ten  with  my  children."  Another  wise  old  hen 
clucked  out  that  she  began  at  eight ;  and  another  at  six ; 
and  a  very  old  grandmotherly  dame  rose,  and  said,  "  Well, 


WHILE    THE    CHILDREN    ARE    ABOUT    US.  309 

if  I  had  my  way,  I  would  begin  with  the  mother  twenty 
years  before  the  child  was  born."  That  is  about  the  time. 
Oh,  give  us  mothers  of  the  right  stamp,  and  then  you  may 
train  the  children  as  you  like.  They  will  come  all  right. 
Many  of  us  here  know  that.  There  are  fathers  sitting  here 
whose  children  are  turning  out  well,  and  you  do  not  take 
very  much  credit.  It  was  the  mother.  God  guided  you  to 
a  wife  who  trained  the  children,  and  put  the  right  stamp 
upon  them. 

I  have  wandered  a  little.  I  come  back  again ;  or,  rather, 
I  am  not  wandering  :  I  am  keeping  to  the  point,  but  some- 
times taking  a  wider  circle.  Let  there  be  especially  a  strong 
and  healthy  sentiment  at  home,  and  in  the  teaching  of  the 
Bible-class,  and  in  the  teaching  of  the  Sabbath- school, 
against  gambling,  against  swearing,  against  this  giddy  rush- 
ing after  amusement,  and  against  drink — drink  in  all  its 
forms.  I  grant  that  here  in  England  you  do  not  see  the 
reeling,  staggering  drunkenness  that  you  see  in  Scotland, 
but  I  cease  to  be  deceived  by  that.  England  is  just  as 
drunken  every  whit,  although  I  grant  there  is  not  the  roll- 
ing, staggering  drunkenness,  simply  because  the  national 
beverage  yonder  compels  a  man  very  soon  to  stagger  and  to 
go  off  his  feet.  Here  in  England  you  have  men — you  have 
Christian  men — God  forbid  that  I  should  deny  them  the  name 
of  Christian — who  all  the  day  long  are  standing  in  two  or 
three  inches  of  beer.  They  are  for  ever  wet-shod.  They  are 
soaking  and  puddling  in  it  all  the  day  long,  and  all  the  week 
through ;  and  as  it  goes  on,  their  eyes  become  a  very  glass,  in 
which  you  can  gauge  how  it  is  rising  in  them.  I  speak 
what  I  know,  and  testify  what  I  am  compelled  to  see  and 
to  smell.  Now,  I  say,  we  know  this.  Canon  Farrar  could 
put  it  eloquently ;  so  can  other  men,  but  I  will  stand  here 


310  WHILE    THE    CHIIiDREN   ABE   ABOU»  US. 

and  say  that  no  man  shall  outstrip  me  in  putting  it  plainly 
to  the  people  who  are  before  me.  Let  us  understand  how 
this  drink  curse  and  cancer  is  eating  everywhere.  Medical 
science  utters  its  cool,  calm,  calculating  voice,  and  tells 
us  that  if  we,  through  a  certain  climacteric  of  our  be- 
ing— we  fathers  and  mothers — keep  steadily  sipping  our 
alcoholic  liquors,  and  soaking  our  being  with  these  liquors, 
we  very  likely  shall  produce  a  generation  of  children  who 
will  not  be  able  to  withstand  a  craving  for  drink.  You 
may  do  it  with  apparent  safety  ;  but  you  have  not  secured 
your  children's  safety.  They  may  go  down  where  their 
fathers  and  mothers  stood. 

While  our  children  are  about  us  let  us  know  the  world 
we  are  in  and  its  dangerous  customs,  and,  if  we  love  our 
children,  let  us  lead  them  straight. 

^  My  time  is  almost  gone,  but  I  do  trust  that  while  our 
children  are  about  us  these  remarks  that  I  have  made  will 
come  to  us  with  humbling  and  heahng  power. 

God  grant  that  none  of  us  may  have  to  lament  in  our  old 
age,  as  poor  Job  is  lamenting,  that  they  are  all  gone.  And 
the  Lord  grant  also  that  our  lament  may  not  have  the 
added  bitterness  that  they  are  gone  in  shame,  that  they  are 
away  in  moral  defeat  and  disaster.  While  they  are  with  us  let 
us  love  them  wisely;  let  us  hold  them  as  a  sacred  trust;  and 
then,  when  old  age  comes  to  us,  and  we  are  looking  back 
through  other  years,  we  shall  not  have  cause  to  lament.  I 
think  I  see  you  just  now — father  here,  mother  there,  and 
that  beautiful  half-moon  of  children,  this  one,  and  this  one, 
and  this  one.  There  they  are,  a  beautiful  half-circle  round 
the  fire.  Now  the  children  are  about  you  ;  oh,  how  shep- 
herded, how  guarded !  The  wolves  of  sin,  and  the  tearing 
dogs  out  there  in  London,  have  never  come  in.     You  have 


WHILE   THE  CHILDREN   ARE   ABOUT   DB.  311 

your  children  all  folded  in  eight.  That  will  not  be  long. 
What  is  it  to  be  in  the  end  ?  God  grant  that  when  you  and 
I  become  old,  and  when  our  children  have  gone  from  us,  and 
we  are  counting  them  up,  we  shall  be  able  to  say,  as  their 
names  come  before  us,  that  they  are  safe,  either  doing  well 
out  in  the  great  world,  or  doing  better  than  well  up  yonder. 

"  I  have  a  son,  a  third  sweet  son, 

His  age  I  cannot  tell  ; 
For  they  reckon  not  by  years  or  months 

Where  he  has  gone  to  dwell. 
I  cannot  tell  what  form  is  his, 

What  looks  he  weareth  now, 
Nor  what  a  shining  seraph  crown 

Adorns  his  holy  brow." 

But  while  we  know  that  the  others  may  go  wrong,  these  are 
housed,  and  are  safe  for  ever. 

Oh,  what  a  world  of  wisdom  and  of  consolation  in 
Wordsworth's  simple  story  about  the  little  cottage  girl  who 
would  count  up  the  family  in  an  unbroken  enumeration ! 

"  *But  they  are  dead,  those  two  are  dead. 

Their  spirits  are  in  heaven,' — 
'Twas  throwing  words  away  ;  for  still 
The  little  maid  would  have  her  will, 

And  said,  '  Nay,  we  are  seven.'  " 

I  have  pictured,  I  trust,  things  as  they  are  just  now  with 
some  of  us.  Let  me  run  on,  ten,  twenty,  thirty,  forty  years 
ahead,  and  perhaps  father  and  mother  are  still  living — 
father  here,  mother  there  ;  but  no  half-moon  of  children  in 
between.  You  can  draw  your  chairs  as  closely  together 
now  as  in  your  earliest  married  days  before  the  children 
came.  They  are  all  gone.  I  look  in  upon  you  ;  I  see  your 
white  head,  I  see  your  bowing,  tottering  frame.  I  look  in 
upon  you  in  the  rosy  sunlight  of  an  evening,  and  of  the 
evening  of  life,  and  yoU  are  thinking  and  talking  about  the 


312        WHILE  THE  CHILDREN  ARE  ABOUT  US. 

children,  but  you  are  not  lamenting,  you  are  not  sorrowing, 

your  grey  hairs  are  not  going  down  in  dishonour  to  the 

grave.    You  are  thinking  of  your  children,   but  you   are 

thinking  of  them  hopefully,  and  praisingly,  and  rejoicingly, 

and   you    are    saying,     "  Well,     bless    God,     we     have 

hope  in  our    children.      Some    of    them    are    gone,    we 

believe,  to  glory.     Some  of  them  are  placed  out  in  the 

world,  but  the  Angel  who  redeemed  us   from  all  evil  is 

blessing  the  lads  " ;  and  without  fear,  and  without  regret, 

you  prepare  yourselves  to  sleep  (together  at  the  foot  of  the 

hill.     You  have  no  qualm^  or  alarms  about  your  children, 

for  while  they  were  about  you,  you  loved  them  wisely ;  you 

led  their  footsteps  right ;  and  God  has  taken  you  and  your 

seed  after  you  according  as  He  hath  promised  in  His  Holy 

Word. 

"0  glorious  day  !  then  shall  we  meet  at  length, 
After  life's  tempest,  under  a  clear  sky, 
And  count  our  band,  and  find  with  keenest  joy 
None  wanting :  love  preserved  in  all  iU  strength. 
Then  with  fresh  rapture  hand  in  hand  arise, 
A  link  in  the  bright  chain  of  ransomed  families." 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


ilegcnt  §qmxt  f  nipt, 


HEALING   OF  THE  LEPER. 


%  Btxmm 

PrvEACHED  IN  Regent  Squake  Church, 

BY   THE 

REV.  JOHN  McNeill. 


*'  When  He  was  come  down  from  the  mountain,  great  multitudes  followed 
Him.  And,  behold,  there  came  a  leper  and  worshipped  Him,  saying, 
Lord,  if  Thou  wilt.  Thou  canst  make  me  clean.  And  Jesus  put  forth  His 
hand,  and  touched  him,  saying,  I  will ;  be  thou  clean.  And  immediately 
his  leprosy  was  cleansed.  And  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  See  thou  tell  no 
man  ;  but  go  thy  way,  show  thyself  to  the  priest,  and  offer  the  gift  that 
Moses  commanded,  for  a  testimony  unto  them." — Matt.  viii.  1-4. 

The  story  of  the  cleansing  of  the  leper  will  occupy  our 
thoughts  now.  May  the  Lord  make  it  fresh  and  profitable 
to  you  and  me  !  This  man  is  a  type  of  sin.  I  almost  wish 
that  we  could  see  him.  The  very  sight  of  him  would  do 
more  than  a  hundred  very  orthodox  sermons  to  bring  us 
down  before  God  and  wring  out  of  us  that  agonizing  cry 
which  is  the  birth-pang  of  a  new-born  spirit,  "  God  be 
merciful  to  me,  for  I,  I  am  the  leper:  I  am  the  sinner;  I  am 
guilty  beyond  all  power  of  mind  to  conceive  or  tongue  to  tell." 
That  was  the  way,  you  know,  in  which  God  spoke  to  Old 
Testament  people  in  bygone  days.  You  remember  how  God 
took  the  common  things  that  lay  all  around  to  impart  truth 
Vol.  III.— No.  21. 


314  HEALING  OF  THE  LEPER. 

on  this  great  matter  of  sin  and  salvation.  He  took  their 
animals,  their  lambs  and  rams  and  bullocks  and  sheep  and 
goats,  and,  by  means  of  the  killing  of  them  and  the  shedding 
of  their  blood  and  the  burning  of  their  bodies,  He  preached 
about  sin  and  about  vital  experimental  religion.  And  He 
set  certain  men  apart,  and  He  made  the  very  clothes  of  the 
men  and  the  things  that  these  men  did — the  priests,  I  mean 
— to  be  preachments,  sermons,  to  every  Israelite  v^ho  wore 
his  head  above  his  shoulders,  and  had  his  mind  working 
behind  his  eyes.  And  He  took,  as  our  story  shows,  the  very 
diseases  of  the  people,  and  mainly  this  disease  of  leprosy ; 
and  upon  leprosy — its  coming  down  upon  a  man  and  its  being 
lifted  from  a  man  by  Divine  grace — He  put  great  religious 
meanings,  so  that  every  Jew,  when  he  saw  a  leper,  saw  a 
living  epistle,  a  moving  sermon  about  what  sin  is,  and  also 
as  to  the  only  quarter  from  whence  saving  grace  and  mercy 
can  be  expected. 

Now,  it  was  that  kind  of  man  who  came  on  this  occasion 
to  Jesus  Christ.  Pardon  this  somewhat  long  introduction  ; 
but  I  want  to  begin  at  the  beginning.  Matthew,  when  he 
is  telling  the  story,  just  feels  what  I  am  trying  to  feel  for 
myself  and  for  you. 

He  puts  the  trumpet  to  his  lips  and  says,  ''Behold- 
behold  a  leper  !  "  When  the  Preacher  had  finished  preach- 
ing, lo,  a  leper  came  and  worshipped,  and  put  forth  this 
tremendous,  this  stupendous  request,  "  Lord,  if  Thou  wilt. 
Thou  canst  make  me  clean."  Matthew  blows  the  trumpet. 
This  to  him,  a  man  like  ourselves,  brought  up  in  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Old  Testament,  was  wonderful.    I  trust  it  is  the 


HEALING    OF    THE    LEPER.  815 

same  to  us.  Because  my  object  this  morning,  dear  friends, 
is  just  this — that  we  are  to  go  to  the  same  Christ  on  that 
leper's  feet ;  and  God  grant  that  we  may  all  of  us,  if  we 
have  not  yet  done  it,  speed  as  well  as  he  sped,  for,  until  we 
begin  here,  we  know  nothing  about  religion,  we  know 
nothing  about  sin,  and  we  know  nothing  about  salvation. 

Why  do  you  think  the  leper  came  ? — for  it  is  remarkable 
that  he  came.  Lepers  were  not  coming  every  day  to  preachers 
after  they  had  finished  their  sermons,  and  saying,  "  If  thou 
wilt,  thou  canst  made  me  clean."  It  was  a  very,  very 
wonderful  eye-opening,  heart-moving  spectacle.  Why  did 
he  come  ?  According  to  the  almost  **  jargon  "  of  the  present 
day,  the  scientific  method  is,  that  in  regard  to  nature  we 
are  to  find  a  cause  adequate  to  produce  all  phenomena.  Is 
not  that  it  ?  Very  well,  in  applying  the  scientific  method 
to  this  incident  we  have  to  find  a  cause  adequate  to  produce 
this  phenomenon  —  a  hopeless,  heartless  leper,  plucking  up 
hope  and  heart  to  this  extent,  that  he  comes  before  the 
Master  and  says,  "  If  Thou  wilt.  Thou  canst  make  me 
clean."  How  did  that  come  about  ?  The  Master  had  been 
preaching  in  the  open  air.  He  had  been  delivering  what 
we  call  "  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,"  but  what  He  never 
called  any  such  thing,  for  Christ  simply  said,  "  These 
sayings  of  Mine."  He  was  standing  on  that  hill-side,  and 
a  great  company  gathered  round  about  Him,  and  He  was 
ripping  up  things  generally.  Now,  I  believe  that  the  leper 
was  there.  I  have  got  that  into  my  head.  Though  it  is 
not  written,  I  think  that  it  is  between  the  lines.  I  am 
forced  back  for  an  explanation,  at  any  rate,  of  this  wonder ! 


316  HEALING    OF    THE    LEPER. 

Why  did  that  leper  come  ?  and  I  have  come  to  this  solution 
of  it  —  that  he  was  present  when  Christ  was  preaching  on 
the  hill-side.  Do  you  not  see  that  the  Lord,  just  because 
He  went  into  the  open  air,  gave  a  good  chance  to  lepers,  did 
He  not  ?  Lepers  dare  not  come  into  the  synagogues,  but 
the  Lord  did  not  confine  Himself  to  temples  made  with 
hands.  He  went  to  streets  and  openings  of  gates  where 
poured  the  busy  crowd.  He  went  to  the  hill-side.  He 
spoke  to  the  people  gathered  on  the  shore  from  a  little  boat 
moored  off  a  little  way,  so  that  the  water  might  be  a  grand 
medium  for  conveying  the  sound.  It  is  a  pity  that  we  do 
not  more  follow  His  example.  Poor  hopeless,  helpless, 
outcast  sinners,  come  then  !  Nicodemus  comes  slipping 
round  in  the  dark.  He  would  not  come  in  here  ;  and  a 
leper  could  not  come  here. 

Therefore  I  say  that,  far  more  than  we  do,  we  ought  to 
have  a  free  hand  and  a  free  step,  and  go,  like  our  Master, 
outside.  I  do  not  say  that  the  leper  was  in  the  crowd  even ; 
I  should  rather  think  that  he  was  not ;  he  dare  not  go  there. 
These  ceremonial  rules  were  so  strict  that,  if  the  leper  had 
gone  in  among  the  people,  he  would  have  made  them  un- 
clean ;  and  he  dare  not  even  go  to  the  windward  of  them, 
lest  the  wind,  blowing  from  him  to  them,  should  pollute 
them.  So  I  think  that  I  see  him  there  on  the  lee-side  of 
the  crowd,  all  by  himself,  perhaps  lying  down  behind  some 
knob  or  shoulder  of  the  hill — some  little  mound  or  hillock  > 
and  there  is  Christ  preaching  to  the  crowds  and  this  man 
getting  it  all  without  running  any  risk  either  for  himself  or 
for  them,  poor  people.  Now,  suppose— and  it  is  no  idle 
supposition — God  strike  it  into  us  ! — suppose  you  had  been 
there  in  that  leper's  shoes,  or  sandals,  or  bare  feet.  What 
do  you  think  would  have  struck  you  most  among  the  say- 


HEALING    OF   THE    LEPER.  317 

ings  of  Christ  ?  Which  do  you  think  among  them — these 
short,  sharp  utterances  that  struck  and  stuck,  mouthfuls 
from  Him  that  were  earfuls  to  them,  which  went  down  and, 
for  a  brief  moment,  compelled  men  and  women  to  feel  and 
think  and  see  eternal  realities — which  do  you  think  among 
the  sayings  of  Christ,  those  bullet-like  utterances,  which 
went  crashing  through  all  the  traditions  with  which 
they  had  stopped  up  their  ears,  and  which  found  out 
the  quick  in  a  man  if  there  was  any  quick  in  him — 
which  do  you  think  among  them  would  have  told  on 
you,  if  you  had  been  that  leper?  That  is  how  to  get 
at  it,  for  faith  comes  by  hearing ;  and  I  believe  that  this 
man  had  been  listening,  therefore  faith  came.  That  is 
indicated  by  his  approach  and  by  his  prayer.  There  is  the 
kind  of  scientific  explanation  needed.  I  think  that  he  was 
there  lying  and  listening,  and  Christ  was  lifting  up  His  voice 
on  the  clear,  crisp  air ;  and  suddenly  He  said — and  I  think 
that  He  looked  the  poor  fellow's  way  when  He  said  it — 
"  You  have  heard  this,  and  you  have  heard  that,  and  you 
have  heard  the  other  thing  "  (quoting  the  traditions  of  the 
Jews);  "but  I  say  unto  you.  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto 
you ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened 
unto  you"  ;  and,  again  looking  the  poor  fellow's  way,  with 
a  keen  eye  and  a  voice  of  infinite  encouragement,  He  said, 
"  For  every  one  that  asketh  receiveth." 

When  Christ  said  that  "Every  one  that  asketh  receiveth," 
the  leper  caught  at  it ;  and  I  think  I  see  his  soul  swelling  and 
beginning  to  work  and  move  with  a  new  hope,  as  he  says 
to  himself,  "  Now,  I  have  heard  about  that  man,  and  it  has 
come  to  this  with  me — that  the  man  who  can  stand  up 
before  my  whelming  misery,  the  man  who  can  look  towards 
my  wretchedness,  and  utter  these  words  of  infinite  largess 


318  HEALING   OF    THE    LEPER. 

and  hopefulness,  is  either  more  than  he  seems — is  either 
The  Prophet  who  was  for  to  come,  or  he  is  the  vilest  im- 
postor who  ever  trifled  with  human  misery."  Ah !  if  he 
thought  thus,  and   heard  thus,  and    acted  thus,  he  wafe 

right. 

What  is  your  own  verdict  ?    Impostor  or  Great  Physician 

^which  ?     Say,  from  your  own  heart.     What  has  He  done 

for  those  leprous  hands,  for  your  brow,  for  your  soul? 
Answer  of  your  own  knowledge,  or  not  at  all.  Yes,  that 
leper  was  listening.  Lepers  make  good  listeners.  Faith 
comes  by  hearing ;  and  that  man  began  well.  He  was  hear- 
ing well.  That  every  way  became  him,  did  it  not  ?  And  if 
you  are  sitting  here  to  -  day  consciously  unwashed,  con- 
sciously uncleansed,  consciously  unregenerated  and  unsaved, 
then,  my  friend,  you  are  as  you  are,  not  so  much  because 
of  poor  preaching  up  here,  as  because  of  mighty  poor  hsten- 
ing  down  there.  There  is  a  great  deal  in  the  hearing.  In 
fact,  it  all  lies  in  the  hearing.  "  Take  heed  how  ye  hear." 
"  He  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear,  let  him  hear  v?hat  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  saying  to  the  Churches,"  and  in  the  Churches. 
"  Let  these  sayings  sink  down  into  your  ears."  There  is  a 
vast  amount  in  the  hearing ;  and  I  shall  say  this,  that 
in  the  poorest,  dullest,  dreariest  sermon  that  you  ever 
heard  from  an  orthodox  pulpit  or  platform,  there  was 
enough  in  it,  with  all  its  faults,  with  all  its  dryness,  and 
with  all  its  "divisions,"  to  awaken  your  heart  and  save  your 
soul,  if  you  had  listened  to  it  as  a  rotting  leper  should. 
That  is  strong.  I  meant  it  to  be  so.  Hear  as  you  ought  ta 
hear.  Listen  for  your  life.  *'  Hearken  diligently 
unto  Me,"  says  God;  "incline  your  ear  unto  Me; 
hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live."  There  is  a  vast 
amount  in  the  hearing.     I  do  believe,  although  we  have 


HEALING    OF    THE    LEPER.  319 

not  a  line,  that  we  may  read  between  the  lines  that  this 
man  heard  what  Christ  was  saying,  and  he  very  likely  heard 
just  that  one  utterance,  "  Every  one  that  asketh  receiveth  "; 
and  his  already  dead  soul  within  his  dying  body  leaped  upon 
new  feet,  and  he  said,  "  As  surely  as  I  am  a  living  leper,  I  will 
have  more  words  with  that  Man  before  I  let  Him  go.  I 
will  have  it  out  with  Him.  If  ever  preacher  was  put  into  a 
corner  by  his  own  words,  I  will  put  Him  into  a  corner.  He 
said,  'Every  one  that  asketh.'  I  will  make  Him  busy.  I 
will  ask.  That  crowd  may  not  have  gripped  at  it,  but  it 
was  a  baited  hook  for  me,  and  I  have  swallowed  it."  He 
took  it  in  I 

Now,  we  will  look  at  the  leper's  prayer.  Christ  finished 
His  sayings.  That  man  had  had  enough.  It  does  not  need 
a  sermon  to  save  a  soul ;  a  saying  will  do  it.  Christ  has 
finished  His  sermon.  He  is  coming  away  down  the  hill 
into  some  town  or  village  at  the  foot.  The  multitude  buzzed, 
and  hummed,  and  talked,  and  very  likely  praised  Him, 
for  He  was  popular  then.  They  praised  Him,  and  they 
said,  "  What  manner  of  man  is  this  ?  Never  man  spake 
like  this  man";  for  He  spoke  with  authority,  and  not  as 
the  dry-as-dust  scribes.  And  then,  busy  and  talking,  they 
would  keep  coming  down  the  hill  after  Him,  and  when  the 
leper  sees  Him  he  rises  up.  He  knows  that  he  has  only  just 
a  minute.  If  that  crowd  comes  down  upon  him  he  must 
run,  and  the  Master  will  be  blamed  for  being  in  contact 
with  him  and  breaking  the  law ;  and  so  he  runs  and  cuts 
off  a  corner  ;  and  while  the  multitude  come  tumbling  down 
folloioing  Him,  the  leper  comes  to  Him.  The  multitude 
followed,  and  the  leper  came  and  cast  himself  down  in 
intensity  of  feeling  and  of  misery,  and  said,  "  Lord,  if  Thou 
wilt,  Thou   canst   make   me  clean."     A  great  deal  more 


320  HEALING    OF    THE    LEPEB. 

quickly  than  I  am  taking  to  tell  it,  Jesus  said,  "  I  will ; 
be  thou  clean  "  ;  and  immediately  his  leprosy  was  cleansed. 
It  had  to  be  done  quickly,  and  quickly  it  was  done  on  every 
account. 

Now,  let  us  look  at  his  prayer,  "  Lord,  if  Thou  wilt,  Thou 
canst  make  me  clean."  First  of  all,  I  want  to  praise  that 
prayer.  I  want  to  commend  it.  It  was  short.  After  all, 
with  some  deductions,  it  was  to  the  point.  It  was  not  an 
"  outer  "  or  an  "  inner,"  if  I  may  speak  to  my  Volunteer 
friends.  It  was  on  the  bull's-eye.  "Lord,  if  Thou  wilt, 
Thou  canst  make  me  clean."  There  was  a  secret  in  it  which 
is  in  all  true  and  all  successful  praying,  and  that  secret 
seems  to  me  to  be  this  :  In  a  very  likely  unconscious,  but 
very  skilful  way,  he  put  the  responsibility  of  his  condition 
upon  the  Man  who  had  preached  that  sermon.  He  virtually 
said  to  Him,  "  Now,  you  are  the  Man  who  preached  that 
word  to  me,  and  I  have  got  a  hold  of  it.  If  I  remain  above 
ground  another  five  minutes,  the  loathsome  spectacle  to 
myself  and  to  others  that  I  am.  Thou  art  responsible." 
That  is  a  free  translation,  and  there  is  a  vast  deal  more 
than  that  in  it.  "  Lord,  if  Thou  wilt."  I  believe  that 
explains  partly  the  immediateness.  The  crowd  pressing  on 
behind  hurried  things  for  him  ;  and  that  was  a  good  thing ; 
but  the  skilful  way  in  which  he  had  put  his  prayer  helped 
the  immediateness  of  the  cure.  That  is  a  secret  which  God 
gract  we  may  all  learn,  and  God  grant  that  we  may  all 
work  it  diligently  until  praying  days  are  done.  Especially 
let  me  say  to  any  poor  sinner  here,  whose  spiritual  condition 
is  typified  by  this  man's  bodily  condition,  my  dear  friend, 
there  is  the  secret,  and  it  is  an  open  secret.  All  God's  saints 
know  it.  It  was  the  beginning  of  our  knowledge  of  Him 
and  of  ourselves.     It  is  this — that  all  that  you  have  tc  do  is 


HEALING    OF    THE    LEPER.  321 

to  cast  the  responsibility  of  your  case  upon  God  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Trust  Him.  Beheve  in  the  love  of  God.  If  I 
might  say  so,  presume  upon  His  mercy.  Take  it  for  granted 
that  He  is  inclined  to  do  you  good.  Do  not  begin 
to  storm  and  beseech,  as  if  to  melt  a  reluctant 
Sav7'^"r  into  bending  a  pitying  glance  upon  you  and 
giving  you  salvation  as  you  would  toss  a  coin  to  a  clamour- 
ous beggar.  Do  not  try  that,  but  come  in  before  Him  in 
the  totahty  of  your  need  and  wretchedness,  and  presume 
upon  His  mercy.  "  If  Thou  wilt,  Thou  canst  make  me  clean." 
And  the  Lord  acknowledged  the  skilfulness  of  his  prayer, 
although  again  I  say,  very  likely  the  man  was  unconscious 
of  it.  He  was  led  to  it  by  his  desperate  need.  It  reminds 
me  of  those  stories  that  we  used  to  read  when  we  were  boys, 
but  we  trust  that  now  we  have  become  men  we  have  put 
away  those  childish  things — those  wonderful  novels  and 
things  of  that  kind.  There  is  usually  a  hero — is  there  not? — 
and  he  is  in  great  distress,  and  he  is  pursued  for  his  life, 
and  he  has  rushed  into  some  apartment  in  some  castle,  or 
he  is  lodged  there,  and  the  assassins  are  coming  to  do  him 
to  death,  and  he  hears  the  ringing  of  their  feet  along  the 
lobby,  and  the  door  will  soon  be  opened,  and  his  life  at  an 
end  ;  and  he  is  in  a  dark  dungeon,  and  he  is  rushing  round 
madly  trying  to  find  a  way  of  escape,  when  suddenly,  in  his 
madness  and  in  his  frenzy,  all  unconsciously  to  himself,  his 
finger  opportunely  touches  a  secret  spring,  and  the  panels 
fly  apart  and  discover  a  stairway.  Very  well,  I  think  that 
if  we  may  allow  a  somewhat  familiar  illustration,  that  is 
like  what  this  man  did.  There  he  was,  and  death  was 
sweeping  down  upon  him — death  temporal  and  death 
spiritual.  As  David  would  say,  "The  sorrows  of  death  com- 
passed him,  and  the  pains  of  hell  " — God  help  you  I  did  you 


322  HEALING    OP    THE    LEPEB. 

ever  feel  them? — "  the  pains  of  hell  got  hold  upon  him  " ;  when 
in  his  terror  and  alarm  his  finger,  unconsciously  to  himself — 
that  is  to  say  his  prayer,  for  that  is  his  finger — touched  the 
secret  spring  which  evermore  makes  the  heart  of  God  to  fly 
open  and  the  blessing  of  heaven  to  fly  out.  "  Lord,  if  Thou 
art  willing,  Thou  canst  make  me  clean."  Jesus  said — let 
it  stand  to  His  praise  for  ever — *'  I  am  wiUing  to  save." 
Although  you  never  heard  of  Him  till  this  hour — although 
you  have  trampled  His  love  under  your  feet  till  this  hour — 
still,  I  ask  you  to  believe  the  kindness  and  love  of  God 
towards  you. 

Now,  after  saying  so  much  in  favour  of  his  prayer,  I 
would  like  to  discount  it  a  little — to  speak  a  little  in 
dispraise  of  it.  Of  course,  cavilling  critics  will  say  that 
that  is  inconsistent.  Never  mind.  I  want  to  speak  in 
dispraise  of  the  prayer.  **  Lord,  if  Thou  wilt,  Thou  canst 
make  me  clean."  There  is  something  wrong  with  that. 
What  is  wrong  ?  Well,  I  should  like  to  say  that  what  is 
wrong  is  this  :  it  is  too  long.  There  is  in  that  prayer  what 
is  in  our  prayers.  It  is  too  wordy.  It  could  be  reduced 
still  further.  It  was  good  enough  for  him  in  the  dimness 
and  darkness  in  which  he  was.  We  ought  to  do  it  better. 
The  road  for  him  was  a  little  roundabout.  We  can  make  it 
as  straight  as  straight  can  be.  For  example,  there  is  the 
"  if."  Now,  that  might  go  away.  Dear  sinner,  poor  soul, 
wretched  backslider — for  there  is  very  Uttle  difference — 
come  back  to  God  to-day.  I  will  come  with  you.  Come 
back  to  God  to-day  in  Jesus  Christ.  Come  to  this  incar- 
nate Saviour's  feet,  and  just  fling  yourself  down,  and  never 
mind  the  "  if."  "  If  thou  wilt  ?  "  There  is  no  need  for 
"  if."  Let  the  incarnation,  let  His  life  of  goodness,  let  the 
a':;onies  of  His  death,  let  the  resurrection  glory  and  the  out- 


HEALING    OF    THE    LEPER.  323 

pouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  sufficient  to  blot  out  that 
"if."  Blessed  be  God,  it  is  gone.  There  is  no  **  if  " — not 
on  that  side.  It  is  never  there.  It  is  not  if  He  will,  but  if 
thou  wilt.  If  there  is  a  condition,  it  is  with  thee,  not  with 
Him.     "  Lord,  Thou  wilt,  Thou  canst  make  me  clean." 

Blot  out  the  "if."  "Lord,  Thou  wilt.  Thou  canst 
cleanse  me."  And  even  yet  it  is  too  roundabout.  What  is 
the  use  of  all  this — "If  Thou  wilt.  Thou  canst"?  You 
remember  that  there  was  in  your  school-books^there  was 
in  mine,  anyway — an  amusing  story  of  a  Dutchman  who 
was  over  here  trying  to  learn  English,  and  in  order  to  get 
hold  of  our  language,  whenever  he  came  across  a  verb  he 
began  to  conjugate  it.  Well,  this  leper  seems  to  be  a  kind  of 
conjugating  Dutchman  in  his  way.  He  goes  through  the 
conjugation  of  the  verb  "  to  cleanse."  It  is  not  worth  while. 
Never  mind  parsing,  and  grammar,  and  steering  your  way 
so  carefully.  Come,  as  beggars  should  come — boldly. 
Let  us  come  freely,  urgently,  and  present  ourselves  swiftly 
in  all  our  need  :  "  Lord,  cleanse  me."  David  prayed  better. 
I  think  that  it  is  Augustine — is  it  not  ? — who  says,  "  One 
prayer  like  this  is  plenty.  It  should  never  be  prayed 
again."  David  prayed  better  hundreds  of  years  before, 
when,  standing  in  what  we  call  the  dimness  of  the  Old 
Testament  Church,  with  no  visible  Christ  before  him  as  an 
objective  to  give  point  and  focus  to  his  prayer — he  had  this 
man's  same  trouble  on  his  soul,  the  leprosy  of  sin — he  shot 
up  into  heaven  a  prayer,  in  which  there  is  not  a  wasted 
syllable :  "  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God :  renew  a 
right  spirit  within  me."  That  is  how  to  pray — short,  and 
sharp,  and  piercing.  So  the  publican  prayed.  So  the  leper 
prayed.  So  Peter  prayed.  So  all  of  us  pray  when  we  come 
to  the  reality  of  that  exercise  for  the  first  time. 


324  HEALING  OF   THE    LEPER.  ' 

Surely,  some  soul  needs  this — 

"  Venture  on  Him  ;  venture  wholly.* 

Do  not  stand  afar  off.  God  is  inclined  to  be  good  to  you. 
Believe  it  on  the  testimony  of  the  Book.  Believe  it  on 
my  testimony.  Believe  it  on  the  word  of  the  man  sitting 
next  to  you,  v^ho  could  tell  you  if  you  would  only  ask  him. 
God  does  love  sinners,  fully  and  freely,  without  merit  and 
without  desert.  You  have  only  to  come  as  you  are.  That 
is  how  the  man  gets  on  with  us  who  is  a  beggar.  The  man 
who  comes  to  my  door  and  wants  something,  and  begins  to 
tell  a  long  story,  the  gist  of  which  is  that  he  is  a  broken- 
down  gentleman  or  a  nobleman  in  disguise — that  man 
does  not  get  much.  I  have  not  time  to  bother  listen- 
ing to  that  man  and  his  long  story.  From  the  mere 
fact  that  he  is  unpacking  his  heart  with  words — 
that  he  is  so  wordy  and  polite.  I  shut  the  door  and  go 
away.  But  the  man  who  gets  help,  if  any  man  gets  it,  is 
the  man  who  comes  without  all  this.  There  he  was,  last 
night,  reeking  and  revelling  in  debauch,  and  he  comes  to 
me  and  says,  '*  Yes,  I  am  a  bad  fellow  ;  I  have  broken  my 
father's  heart,  my  mother's  heart,  and  my  wife's  heart.  I 
know,  sir,  that  I  have  no  excuse  to  plead,  but  I  am  starv- 
ing." What  do  I  do  ?  What  can  I  do  ?  "  Blood  is  thicker 
than  water." 

I  give  that  man  something — do  I  not? — just  because 
he  was  honest,  and  came  as  he  was,  and  had  no  long  story, 
and  did  not  beat  round  about  the  bush,  but  virtually  flung 
himself  at  my  head,  and  he  could  not  miss.  Well,  that  is 
how  to  get  salvation.  That  is  how  to  get  healing.  Come 
as  you  are. 

There  is  a  mother  here.     You  know  how  your  children 


HEALING  OF  THE  LEPER.  325 

deal  with  you.  Suppose  your  boy  came  home  from  school 
to-morrow,  and  stood  before  you  and  said,  "Mother,  if  thou 
wilt,  thou  canst  give  me  bread,"  how  would  you  look?  I 
think  you  would  put  up  your  hand  in  a  weary  way,  and  say, 
"  Dear  me  !  My  boy  has  got  grammar  on  the  brain."  You 
are  not  on  such  terms  with  your  boy,  and  your  boy  is  not 
on  such  terms  with  you,  that  he  needs  to  come  in  that  way. 
Many  a  grand  "piece"  (as  we  call  a  shce  of  bread  and 
butter  across  the  border)  was  got  yesterday  for  "  Give  me  "; 
"  I  want  so  and  so  " ;   and   it  was  got   without   polished 

speech,  without  circumlocution.     "Lord,  cleanse  me!" 

let  every  honest  soul  send  up  that  prayer. 

What  was  the  answer?  Immediately  Jesus  put  forth 
His  hand,  and  touched  him,  and  said,  "  I  will ;  be  thou 
made  clean."  Just  a  last  word  upon  this  "immediately." 
Keeping  in  mind  the  background  or  the  foreground  of  the 
picture  that  we  have  had  all  along,  it  seems  to  have  come 
about  in  this  way  :  If  you  had  been  there,  you  would  have 
seen  a  man  coming  as  I  have  described,  casting  himself 
down,  presenting  himself,  and  putting  up  his  prayer.  He 
gets  it  answered ;  he  rises,  and  walks  away.  If  you  and  I 
had  been  there,  we  should  very  likely  have  gone  to  him  and 
said,  "  Well,  poor  fellow,  we  saw  that  thought  rising 
in  your  breast,  that  this  man  could  cleanse  you ; 
but  of  course  it  was  a  wild  delusion,  born  in  you 
because  of  the  agony  of  your  condition,  and  because 
of  the  unguarded  way  in  which  that  preacher  spoke 
to  you  about  asking  and  receiving  "  ;  for,  oh  !  it  was  diffi- 
cult for  a  Jew  to  believe  that  leprosy  could  be  cured.  Do 
you  remember  the  sad  condition  of  mind,  the  "pickle," into 
which  a  king  was  put  in  the  Old  Testament,  when  the  King 
of  Syria  sent  to  him  the  leper  Naaman.     He  stuck  the 


326  HEALING    OF    THE    LEPEE. 

wrong  ticket  on  the  poor  fellow,  and,  instead  of  sending  him 
to  the  [prophet,  he  misdirected  him  and  sent  him  to  the 
King  of  Israel,  and  the  King  tore  his  clothes  and  said, 
**  Am  I  a  god,  to  kill  and  to  make  alive,  that  he  should  send 
the  leper  to  me  ?  "Wherefore,  consider,  I  pray  you,  and  see 
how  he  seeketh  a  quarrel  against  me."  And  all  that 
would  have  been  in  our  minds,  perhaps,  and  we  should 
have  said  to  the  poor  fellow,  "  Well,  we  saw  you  going 
in,  and  you  put  your  prayer;  but  of  course  nothing 
has  come  of  it."  He  came  away  so  quickly  that  we  should 
have  just  said, "  It  was  nothing  but  a  mere  spasm  of  emotion 
that  led  him  to  pray,  and  there  is  no  result."  But  he  would 
have  held  out  those  hands  which  before  were  rotting,  and 
said,  ''  Clean  !  "  and  he  would  have  pulled  back  the  tangled 
hair  from  his  brow,  and  torn  off  the  rag  that  covered  his  lip, 
and  he  would  have  said,  "  Clean !  O  God  of  Abraham,  I  am 
clean !  "  Yes;  **  his  dry  palms  grew  moist,  and  the  blood 
coursed  with  delicious  coolness  through  his  veins,  and  on 
his  brow  the  dewy  softness  of  an  infant  stole.  His  leprosy 
was  cleansed,  and  he  fell  down  at  Jesus*  feet  and  worshipped 
Him." 

How  often  there  come  in  these  stories  of  gracious  healing 
•*n  our  Lord's  ministry,  "  straightway,"  "immediately,"  to 
bring  out  this,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  so  quick,  so 
filled  with  healing  power,  and  you  are  so  needy,  that  all 
that  He  wants  is  to  be  asked.  "  Every  one  that  asketh 
receiveth." 

Of  course,  speaking  to  Christians,  I  know  that  there 
are  many  things  which  we  ask  which  we  shall  not 
get  for  a  good  while,  and  many  things  we  ask  which 
we  shall  get  by  having  them  refused  to  us.  Our  prayer 
may  be  answered  by  not  being  answered  at  all.     But  this 


HEALING  OP  THE  LEPER.  327 

represents  the  initial  blessing,  the  lifting  of  one's  leprosy, 
the  bringing  back  of  an  unclean  man  or  woman  to  fellowship 
and  favour  with  God — for  that  is  life  and  health  and  peace 
begun  which  shall  infallibly  endure  for  ever — the  initial 
blessing  comes,  when  it  does  come,  like  the  lightning's 
flash,  implied  lately,  Christ's  love  flies  into  a  perishing  soul. 
It  had  need  be  so,  for  my  danger  is  imminent ;  my  need  is 
awful ;  and  Christ  is  not  going  to  mock  and  tantalize  me, 
and  put  me  through  a  long  and  tedious  process.  Immediately 
He  put  forth  His  hand,  and  said,  "  I  will ;  be  thou  made 
clean." 

Put  doctrinally,  theologically,  it  is  very  well  expressed  by 
a  statement  in  a  little  old  book  that  I  know  very  well.  I 
shed  many  a  bitter  tear  in  getting  it  up  —  the  Catechism  of 
the  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines.  There  is  a  definition 
in  that  book  of  justification,  as  the  initial  blessing,  without 
which  nothing — the  sine  qua  non,  the  beginning  of  the  whole 
business.  The  little  old  book  is  just  a  halfpenny,  and  a 
number  of  people  despise  it  very  much,  but  they  ought  to 
produce  a  better  one  first.  Then  let  their  contempt  follow. 
Here  is  what  it  says  about  justification — Hsten  to  the 
words.  It  is  the  doctrinal  statement  of  this  actual  flesh- 
and-blood  story.  There  stands  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  in 
all  His  fulness.  There  stands  the  miserable  leper.  There 
all  stand.  What  takes  place  is  this  :  My  prayer  flies  to 
Him,  and  His  grace  comes  to  me  immediately.  It  is  de- 
scribed thus — "Justification  is  an  act" — not  a  work — 
"Justification  is  an  act  of  God's  free  grace  wherein  He 
pardoneth  all  our  sins  " — there  is  the  leper  lying  in  the 
Saviour's  bosom — "  wherein  he  pardoneth  all  our  sins  and 
accepteth  us  as  righteous  " — clean,  whole,  healthy,  sound  ; 
not   only   convalescent,  but    righteous — "  accepteth  us    as 


328  HEALING    OF   THE    LEPER. 

righteous  in  His  sight,  only  for  the  righteousness  of  Christ, 
imputed  to  us  and  received  by  faith  alone." 

I  do  not  want  to  be  controversial,  or  to  refer  to  contro- 
versy, but  I  say,  from  the  depths  of  my  heart,  commend  me 
to  the  old  theology  for  cleansing  a  leper,  and  for  keeping 
bun  clean.     May  God  bless  these  words  !     Amen. 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


ilegent  (Square  f  nlpit 


JOTHAM,  KING  AND  SAINT. 


%  Sermon 

Preached  in  Begent  Square  Church, 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  McNeill 


2  Chron.  xx-vii. 

It  is  the  sixth  verse  that  seems  to  me  to  be  the  explanation 
or  key-note  of  this  brief  biography :  "So  Jotham  beqame 
mighty,  because  he  prepared  his  ways  before  the  Lord  his 
God." 

The  Bible,  you  see,  has  its  own  way  of  writing  this 
biography.  That  text  might  have  been  put  first,  and  then 
after  the  text  might  have  come  this  brief  yet  striking 
account  of  Jotham's  activity.  But  the  Bible  prefers  on  this 
occasion  that  we  should  go  through  these  seemingly  dry 
statistical  matter-of-fact  details  about  building  castles  and 
fighting  Ammonites,  and  so  on,  and  so  on,  till  suddenly 
you  come  upon  the  sixth  verse.  Of  course,  we  who  know 
the  Bible  know,  as  we  come  down  through  these  verses, 
^hat  it  is  almost  sure  to  be  working  to  something  like  this. 

Vol.  III.— No.  22. 


330  JOTHAM,    KING   AND    SAINT. 

If  it  does  not  put  the  heart  first,  we  shall  come  to  the  heart 
of  it  if  we  travel  onwards.  And  here  we  get  it  in  the  sixth 
verse.  "  So  Jotham  became  mighty,  because  he  prepared 
his  ways  before  the  Lord  his  God."  This  successful  king 
was  a  spiritual  man,  that  is  to  say,  he  was  a  believer — a 
simple,  whole-hearted,  humbled-minded,  persevering  beUever 
—in  the  Lord  his  God,  the  God  of  his  fathers,  the  Godof  Israel, 
the  record  of  whose  doings  was  made  known  to  him  in  the 
Scriptures  that  he  had.  "  Jotham  became  mighty,  because 
he  prepared  his  ways  before  the  Lord  his  God." 

Now,  without  taking  up  the  text,  and  then  going  away  in 
general  terms  to  explain  what  "  preparing  one's  ways  before 
the  Lord  his  God  "  is,  it  is  much  simpler  and  easier,  and 
more  to  the  Scripture  in  hand,  just  to  lay  the  text  alongside 
of  what  Jotham  did ;  for  that  is  really  the  meaning  of  our 
text  as  it  comes  in  here.  The  Lord  wants  us  to  see  the 
mainspring  of  all  this  successful  king's  energy.  The  striking 
thing  is  how,  in  the  case  of  a  man  who  was  successful  in 
outward,  material,  and  what  we  should  call  secular  and 
worldly  ways,  the  explanation  of  his  success  is  found  in 
inward,  hidden,  secret,  unobserved,  private,  unheralded, 
and,  very  likely,  to  a  large  extent,  unknown  devotion,  and 
humihty,  and  prayerfulness  of  heart  and  soul,  in  his  hidden 
life  before  God.  Outside,  he  seemed  to  be  just  very  much 
like  any  big  builder,  a  royal  contractor  ;  but,  inside,  he  was 
as  pure  and  spiritual  as  ever  his  father  David  was  when  he 


JOTHAM.    KINO    AMD   BAINT.  831 

was  singing  those  psalms  and  hymnb  .and  spiritual  songs 
that  still  ring  in  the  ears  of  all  the  generations  of  people. 

Now,  just  think  of  this  spiritual  man.  We  read,  for 
example,  that  "  he  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  sight  of 
the  Lord  according  to  all  that  his  father  did  ;  but  he  entered 
not  into  the  temple  of  the  Lord."  Remember  the  key-stone 
verse  or  the  key-note  verse,  the  sixth,  and  then  apply  it  to 
this  little  item  of  his  practical  life.  You  remember  that 
Uzziah  was  his  father.  Uzziah  was  a  good  man,  but  not 
perfectly  good.  He  went  wrong  at  one  place  very  sorely, 
and  foolishly,  and  wickedly.  His  heart  was  lifted  up.  He 
was  not  content  with  being  great  on  the  throne,  but  he 
usurped  to  himself  the  priest's  office,  and  went  into  the 
temple,  for  which  spiritual  pride  and  wickedness  God  smote 
him  with  leprosy.  He  was  driven  from  his  friends,  and 
lived  in  privacy  for  some  years — we  trust  in  penitence  and 
humility  of  heart — until  he  died.  And  one  sees,  as  by  a 
chink  here  in  the  narrative,  that  there  seems  to  have  come 
along  some  temptation  of  the  same  kind  to  Jotham.  He  too 
was  successful.  God  had  highly  exalted  him  and  prospered 
him,  and  Hfted  him  up ;  but,  significantly,  we  read,  that 
while  he  did  what  was  right,  as  his  father  had  done, 
"he  entered  not  into  the  temple  of  the  Lord," 
although  the  people  were  corrupt.  Very  likely  there 
had  been  a  still  further  degeneration;  and  if  he  had 
wanted  to  claim  this  power  and  proudly  usurp  authority, 


332  JOTHAM,    KING   AND    SAINT. 

and  straddle  over  the  place  every  way  as  his  father, had 
tried  to  do,  the  people  would  not  have  objected.  Things 
were  getting  worse  and  worse,  and  looser  and  looser,  and 
slacker  and  slacker;  but  Jotham  was  saved,  and  went 
right  where  his  father  went  wrong,  because  he  prepared 
his  ways  before  the  Lord."  When  the  temptation  came 
to  him  to  do  what  his  father  had  done,  and  to  get  off 
with  it,  and  to  justify  it,  and  to  make  it  an  instrument  in 
furthering  his  personal  aggrandisement  and  worldly  glory, 
he  took  it  to  his  God  in  prayer.  We  know  that  now. 
The  sixth  verse  tells  us  that.  All  through  the  man's  career 
you  have  always  to  carry  this  lamp  with  you,  and  get  the 
picture  of  a  man  who  lays  all  his  matters  before  God  in 
prayer,  arguing  things  with  God,  shaping  and  planning,  and 
carving  and  contriving  things  in  prayer  before  the  Lord  his 
God,  before  he  came  out  of  his  room.  In  that  time  of 
temptation,  when  he  was  just  where  his  father  was,  high, 
lifted  up,  getting  on,  and  feeling  the  father's  pride  working 
in  him,  you  could  hardly  blame  him  if  he  turned  out  to  be 
his  father's  son,  and  if  he  just  went  wrong  where  his  father 
went  wrong.  Yes,  but  he  prepared  his  ways  before  the 
Lord.  He  took  this  thing,  and  he  stood  there  with  the 
gs:eat  God  in  the  background,  and  he  got  time.  He  did  not 
allow  himself  to  be  driven,  as  his  father  had  allowed  himself 
to  be  driven,  by  pride  and  popular  clamour,  it  may  be,  and 
popular  applause.    He  did  not  drink  himself  drunk  with 


JOTHAM,    KINO  AND   SATNT.  883 

popularity,  and  vanity,  and  flattery,  but  he  prepared  his 
ways  before  the  Lord.  So,  when  he  was  on  the  pinnacle, 
he  did  not  fall  over  and  crash  himself  almost  into  destruc- 
tion, as  his  father  did.  Even  on  the  pinnacle  of  success  and 
popularity,  his  head  was  cool,  and  his  heart  was  clear,  and 
his  nerves  were  steady,  for  he  prepare  his  ways  before  the 
Lord  his  God. 

Learn  a  lesson  from  this  king  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  of 
long,  long  ago.  Let  us  prepare  our  ways  before  the  Lord 
our  God.  The  Lord  first !  Get  into  the  secret  places.  Do 
not  be  driven.  Do  not  take  surface  views.  Do  not  even 
be  guided  by  your  father,  or  by  those  before  you,  no  matter 
how  good  they  were.  No  matter  in  how  many  things  they 
may  have  left  you  an  example,  they  cannot  have  left  you 
an  example  for  all  things.  There  must  come  places  where, 
if  you  are  to  go  right  in  your  day  and  generation,  your 
father  will  not  lead  you.  He  may  mislead  you.  Your 
mother  will  not  lead  you.  The  nearest  and  dearest  to 
whom  you  may  look  up  will  not  lead  you.  Their  light 
at  some  place  or  another  will  burn  dim,  and  you  need 
to  go  in  before  the  Light  of  lights.  Their  wisdom  will 
become  foolishness.  The  strongest  earthly  support  will 
not  bear  you,  but  it  will  crush,  like  a  reed,  under,  and  into 
your  bleeding  hand.  You  will  need,  like  Jotham,  to  make 
God  your  mark  and  your  way,  your  Alpha  and  your  Omega, 
and  to  deal  with  him  nakedly,  immediately,  at  first  hand. 


834  JOTHAM,   KING  AND   SAINT. 

Now,  you  know,  this  is  difficult  for  a  king.  It  may  come 
trite  to  us  ;  but  think  of  kings,  and  how  they  are  surrounded 
with  councillors,  ev6ry  one  of  whom  is  apt  to  have  his  own 
ambitions,  his  own  fish  to  fry,  his  own  game  to  play.  He 
thinks,  "  How  can  the  king  use  me,  and  how  can  I  use  the 
king  ?  "  It  is  grand  to  read,  away  back  in  that  dim,  distant 
time,  that  Jotham  saw  and  understood  it,  and  made  prayer 
to  God  to  be  his  sheet-anchor  in  the  difficulties  that  beset  a 
successful  reign. 

Then  "  he  built  the  high  gate  of  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
and  on  the  wall  of  Ophel  he  built  much.  Moreover,  he 
built  cities  in  the  mountains  of  Judah,  and  in  the  forests 
he  built  castles  and  towers."  Do  you  see,  the  man  who 
prepares  his  ways  before  the  Lord  will  set  himself  to  stiff 
jobs — to  build  cities  in  the  mountains,  for  example,  and 
in  the  forests  to  build  castles  and  towers.  That  is  tough 
work.  That  is  work  that  needs  sinew  and  grit  of  mind 
in  the  man  who  plans  it,  as  well  as  sinew  and  grit  of 
muscle  in  the  actual  quarrymen  and  labourers  and  builders. 
Learn  the  lesson  that  the  man  who  is  spiritual  to  the  core 
will  be  the  man  who,  down  in  the  city  yonder,  will  not 
be  a  weakling,  and  will  not  be  easily  turned  aside.  He 
will  not  be  too  pious  for  this  world.  He  will  tackle 
difficult  things,  and  push,  and  further  them,  and  prosper, 
where  another  man,  for  want  of  religion,  will  not  come  to 
the  same  speed,  or  climb  the  same  height,  or  reach  the 


JOTHAM,    KING    AND    SAINT.  335 

same  success.  It  is  grand,  to  me,  to  see  how  this  disposes 
of  the  idea  that  to  be  a  praying  man  and  to  be  a  business 
man  do  not  go  together.  Oh,  that  young  men  would  learn 
this  !  See  how  we  learn  this  lesson  from  this  old  king.  I 
mean  this  king  of  old.  See  how  we  learn  that  his  faith  in 
God  and  his  prayer  to  God  help  him  with  stones  and 
mortar,  and  cutting  timber  and  building,  and  shaping  and 
arranging  successfully  all  that  kind  of  secular  contracting 
work.  The  men  might  wonder,  and  say,  "  Well,  well, 
whatever  is  up  ?  Here  he  is  building  castles  and  fortifying 
places  away  in  inaccessible  regions,  and  he  has  notions  in 
his  head  of  fortifying  and  strengthening  Judah  that  no 
other  person  seems  to  have  had,  and  he  is  working  them 
out  splendidly."  You  and  I,  to-night,  know  the  secret  of  all 
these  bright  ideas  and  "  forward  movements,"  which  in- 
volved new  plans,  and  would  entail  a  great  deal  of  criticism. 
The  secret  of  them  all  was  that  he  was  a  man  who  prayed, 
and  therefore  he  was  clear-headed ;  therefore  he  was  dogged, 
and  dour,  and  stubborn,  if  you  like ;  but  he  said,  "  There  is 
a  castle  to  be  built  up  on  that  pinnacle,  and  it  has  got  to 
be  done.  If  we  build  a  castle  there,  overlooking  that  gorge, 
it  will  protect  Jerusalem  some  fine  day  when  the  enemy 
comes  down  sweeping  through  it.  Therefore  that  castle  is 
to  be."  And  that  man,  who  might  have  been  misunderstood, 
and  might  have  been  sneered  at  as  a  pious  ninny  and  a  soft, 
weak-brained  creature,  who  spent  an  awful  lot  of  time  at  his 


336  JOTHAM,    KING   AND    SAINT. 

prayers,  was  the  man  who  covered  the  country  with  fortifica- 
tions. That  was  the  man  who  rose  from  his  knees  and 
called  out  his  courtiers,  and  his  contractors,  and  his  heads 
of  departments,  and  made  them  look  lively,  and  work  for 
their  money.  Now,  there  it  is  bristling.  Do  not  take  the 
text,  and  then  in  a  general  way  begin  to  discuss,  '*  What  is 
it  to  prepare  our  ways  before  the  Lord  ?  "  But  take  the 
text,  and  apply  it  like  a  key  put  into  the  lock  of  each  of 
these  verses  of  the  record  of  the  life  of  the  man  "who 
prepared  his  ways."  And  here  are  his  ways — ordinary 
ways,  earthly  ways,  secular  ways,  ambitious  ways,  it  may 
be ;  but  the  secret  of  it  all,  that  saved  them  from  being 
of  the  earth,  earthy,  and  that  sanctified  them,  and  coloured, 
and  glorified  them  all,  was  that  they  came  out  of  the  heart 
of  a  humble,  praying,  believing  man.  Before  God  he  was 
no  king.  At  his  prayers  in  the  morning  he  never  thought 
that  he  was  a  king.  At  his  prayers  in  the  morning  he  was 
like  a  little  child.  If  you  had  heard  him  praying,  you 
would  have  thought  he  was  not  a  king  at  all.  You  would 
have  heard  a  man  before  God,  saying,  like  Solomon  of  old, 
"  O  God,  Thou  hast  set  me  in  the  midst  of  this  Thy  so 
great  a  people.  I  am  but  a  little  child.  I  know  not  how 
to  go  out  or  to  come  in."  And  just  as  God  made  Solomon 
wiser  than  all  that  went  before  Him,  so  He  does  in  measure 
to  all  who  learn  Solomon's  secret,  and  Jotham  had  learned 
it.     "  He  prepared  his  ways  before  the  Lord  his  God." 


JOTHAM,    KING   AND   SAINT.  837 

He  had  a  consulting  committee,  and  that  committee  was 
composed  of  One,  and  that  One  was  God,  and  that  One 
was  always  there.  We  know  now,  better  than  Jotham  did, 
that  that  One  has  three  in  it — a  Father,  and  a  Son,  and  a 
Comforter.  What  a  magnificent  committee  to  which  to  go 
in  every  time  of  trouble,  either  of  a  worldly  or  of  a  secret 
and  moral  kind.  So  he  went  on  !  "  He  built  cities  in  the 
mountains  of  Judah,  and  in  the  forests  he  built  castles  and 
towers." 

"  He  fought  also  with  the  king  of  the  Ammonites, 
and  prevailed  against  them."  There  is  that  life-long  war 
with  Ammon.  Jotham  had  his  turn  of  it  as  many  others 
had  before  him ;  and  while,  with  them,  the  success  was 
varying,  with  Jotham  the  success  was  sure  and  continuous. 
And  there  again  you  have  to  put  the  key  into  the  lock,  and 
it  always  fits.  Why  did  he  win?  Because  in  this,  as  in 
other  things,  befo7'e  he  fo2ight  he  prayed.  When  the  news 
comes  that  Ammon  was  there  on  the  outskirts,  and  that 
Ammon  was  troubling  the  country,  Jotham,  before  he 
rushed  out  to  battle,  prepared  the  way  of  battle,  the  way  of 
the  army,  the  plan  of  campaign,  with  his  '*  Committee," 
the  Lord  his  God.  God  knows  about  fighting.  God  is  good 
for  all  kinds  of  work,  whether  of  building  castles  or  of  pre- 
paring armies  and  means  of  transport,  and  making  arrange- 
ments which  will  not  break  down  when  the  enemy  takes  you 
by  surprise.   The  best  soldier  is  the  praying  soldier.  The  best 


338  JOTHAM,    KING   AND    SAINT. 

builder  is  the  praying  builder.  The  best  man  in  church  or 
market,  for  home  or  abroad,  on  a  throne  or  on  an  office- 
stool,  is  the  man  who  prepares  his  ways  before  the  Lord 
his  God.  He  is  the  king  of  men  ♦*  for  a'  that,  and  a'  that." 
Although  he  may  not  be  a  king  on  a  throne  there  is  the 
royal  blood  in  him,  in  his  brain,  in  his  mind,  in  his  pur- 
poses. He  has  got  blue  blood,  and  blood  is  blood,  and  is 
bound  to  tell.  Praying,  or  the  want  of  it,  is  bound  to  come 
out ;  and  with  the  man  who  prepares  his  ways  before  the 
Lord  his  God  there  will  be  a  dignity,  and  an  impress  on 
everything  that  he  does  which  will  be  seen  and  known  to 
his  honour  and  the  glory  of  Him  whom  his  heart  loyally 
loves  and  obeys. 

So  he  won  in  fighting  as  well  as  in  building.  Depend  upon 
it,  the  good  all-round  man  is  the  praying  man.  Nothing 
came  amiss  to  this  king.  Try  this,  or  try  that,  or  try 
the  other  thing,  all  things  prospered.  If  he  had  taken 
to  preaching,  it  would  have  been  the  same  thing.  He 
would  have  been  a  grand  preacher,  I  have  no  doubt, 
for  he  had  the  grand  secret  of  all  preaching ;  he  prepared 
his  sermon  before  the  Lord  his  God.  Therefore  he  was 
ready  for  the  people  whatever  he  tried.  Let  me  repeat  it, 
this  is  an  all  round  man.  This  is  the  all  round  excellence, 
**  In  everything  by  prayer  and  supplication  with  thanks- 
giving let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God."  Do 
not  consult  with  flesh  and  blood  till  you  have  seen  God 


JOTHAM,    KING   AND    SAINT.  339 

about  it,  and  do  not  see  anybody  less  than  God.  Be  put 
off  with  no  underUng  hke  me,  for  example,  but  see  the 
Head  of  the  House  Himself. 

Then,  still  further,  "  The  children  of  Ammon  gave  him 
the  same  year  an  hundred  talents  of  silver,  and  ten  thousand 
measures  of  wheat,  and  ten  thousand  of  barley.  So  much 
did  the  children  of  Ammon  pay  unto  him  both  the  second 
year  and  the  third."  That  is  to  say,  that  preparing  his 
way  before  the  Lord  his  God  brought  him  money,  brought 
him  loads  of  corn.  A  great  many  people  have  the  notion 
that  these  two  things  are  very,  very  far  apart — prayer  to 
God  and  making  a  fortune  ;  but  prayer  to  God  brought  him 
his  fortune.  But  it  means  more.  These  Ammonites  were 
haters  of  Israel,  v^ith  all  the  proverbial  hatred  of  an  Oriental 
"half-breed";  and  it  was  Jotham  who  compelled  them 
"  to  submit  themselves  with  pieces  of  silver,"  and  to  become 
the  unwilUng  supporters  and  nourishers  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  In  Jotham's  "  controversy  "  with  them,  God  gave 
him  the  verdict  against  them,  "with  costs,"  with  heavy 
damages ;  and  there  was  no  use  of  any  plea  to  "  stay 
execution." 

Verily,  there  be  many  so-called  Israelites,  so-called 
Christians,  to-day,  who  fail  even  to  show  the  sign  of  a 
conquered  "half-breed,"  tliey  do  Twt  "pay  up."  And  we, 
the  servants  of  a  greater  Conqueror  than  Jothajn,  are 
dealing  with  them,  in  that  particular,  with  much  too  slack 


340  JOTHAM,   KING  AND   SAINT. 

a  hand.     So  did  not  Jotham ;  no  mere  empty-handed  pro- 
fessions of  loyalty  for  him.     "  Pay  up ;  pay  up  !  " 

Then  the  last  word  is  a  word  that  I  might  have  taken 
first.  "  So  Jotham  became  mighty  because  he  prepared 
his  ways  before  the  Lord."  I  have  looked  illustratively  at 
these  ways  of  his. 

Now  just  in  closing  let  me  take  that  one  expression  "  So 
he  became  mighty."     How?     By  assertiveness?    By  plum- 
ing himself  ?     By  trotting  about  on  his  dignity  ?     No.     By 
claiming  honours  and  positions,   and   places  and   titles? 
No ;  but  he  became  mighty  by  going  down.     Did  not  our 
Lord  say  over  and  over  again,  "  He  that  humbleth  himself 
shall  be  exalted,  and  he  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be 
abased?  "     That  is  a  word  for  kings  on  their  thrones  or  for 
cobblers  on  their  benches,  for  the  high  and  the  low,  the 
master  and  the  man,  the  mistress  and  the  maid,  the  king 
and  the  beggar.     The  end  of  the  day  will  show  this — that 
it  is  going  down  that  leads  up,  and  that  to  go  up  is  to 
prepare  for  the  final  catastrophe.     The  man  who  feels  that 
he  is  weak  and  witless,  and  empty  and  has  nothing,  and 
has  need  of  all  things,  and  who  goes  in  before  God,  is  the 
man  who  gets  wonderfully  wise  and  far-seeing,  and  you 
need  to  rise  early  to  be  up  before  him,  and  you  need  to  sit 
up  late  to  see  him  going  to  bed,  and  he  is  just  a  desperate 
fellow  wherever  you  find  him,  all  there,  and  always  there, 
and  all  alive. 


JOTHAM,    KING   AND    SAINT.  341 

What  tremendous  spring  is  in  him,  what  energy,  what 
forethought,  what  perseverance.  How  careful  he  is,  how 
purposeful.  While  others  are  trying  and  bungling,  and 
building  a  bit  to-day  and  kicking  it  down  at  night,  and 
starting  in  the  same  old  bungle  to-morrow,  and  for  ever 
sticking  in  the  mud,  Jotham  goes  on  from  strength  to 
strength.  May  we  be  like  him.  "  So  he  became  mighty," 
and  the  secret  of  his  might  was  this  :  he  had  only  one  thing 
in  all  seasons  and  situations  and  circumstances  to  do,  and 
that  was  that  he  put  himself  right  with  God,  and  had  God 
upon  his  side,  whose  he  became.  So  might  we  all.  This 
life  of  ours,  dear  brethren,  is,  on  one  side  of  it,  a  complex 
thing.  In  one  way  of  looking  at  it,  it  is  a  life 
that  seems  to  pull  us  in  well  nigh  a  hundred  different 
directions  at  once  ;  but  if  we  would  master  these  hundred 
pulling  forces  and  make  them  to  be  just  a  hundred 
horses,  all  of  them  pulhng  our  chariot  in  one  way,  then 
here  is  the  secret.  Be  a  man  or  woman  of  one  idea — 
God  first,  God  last,  God  midst,  and  without  end.  Then 
this  whole  hurly-burly  and  confusion  will  be  reduced  to 
order,  and  purpose,  and  success.  All  things  work  together, 
all  things  pull  one  way,  all  things  focus  on  one  spot  with 
terrific  energy  and  momentum  to  the  man  like  Jotham, 
who,  morning,  noon,  and  night,  has  it  burnt  upon  his  brain 
and  heart  and  in  his  very  blood,  "  without  God  I  can  do 
nothing.    Without  God  even  past  experience  is  like  stale 


342  JOTHAM,    KING   AND    SAINT. 

bread  which  breaks  my  teeth.  But  with  God  I  have  per- 
petual energy,  a  fountain  whose  waters  fail  not,  an  inex- 
haustible source  of  grace  and  wisdom  and  strength  for 
every  need."  It  is  easy  to  preach,  it  is  easy  to  say  it ;  but  I 
hope  to  go  away  and  do  it.  May  we  become  mighty  in  our 
weakness — mighty  because  we  prepare  our  ways  before  the 
Lord  our  God.  What  was  Jotham  after  all  but  a 
dim,  distant  hinting  and  foreshadowing  of  the  great  One 
who  came,  even  Jesus  Christ?  If  ever  the  text  of 
to-night  was  true  of  any  man  who  ever  trod  the 
ways  of  time,  it  was  true  for  Jesus  Christ."  "  He  became 
mighty  because  He  prepared  His  ways  before  the  Lord  His 
God."  He  had  to  do  a  work  which  took  barely  three  years, 
and  He  waited  thirty  years  before  He  started  it ;  but  He 
knew  what  He  was  doing.  In  all  those  waiting  years  He 
was  not  wasting  time.  Jotham  found  out  that.  To  wait 
on  God  may  seem  to  be  going  slowly;  but  your  hour 
comes,  and  in  the  last  lap  you  always  overtake  those 
who  seem  to  be  ahead  of  you.  Jesus  Christ,  by  waiting 
upon  God,  seemed  to  be  putting  off,  to  be  a  man  of 
irresolution,  to  be  a  man  of  double  or  uncertain  mind 
and  faltering  purpose.  Again  and  again,  when  people 
thought  that  they  had  got  to  know  Him  a  little,  they 
wanted  to  hurry  Him  and  hasten  Him ;  but  He  kept 
Himself  back,  and  said,  "  Mine  hour  is  not  yet  come." 
"  He  prepared  His  ways  before  the  Lord  His  God."     And 


JOTHAM,    KING   AND   BAINT.  343 

when  the  preparation  was  complete,  and  when  the  hour  had 
come,  and  when  He  did  rise  to  do  His  work,  with  what 
magnificent  energy  and  what  amazing  celerity  He  went  at  it ! 
In  the  two  and  a  half  or  three  years,  what  a  tremendous 
amount  of  work,  and  lasting  work,  was  done !  He  was 
a  man  in  our  flesh,  a  man  in  our  nature,  "  bone  of  our 
bone,  and  flesh  of  our  flesh,"  "  tempted  in  all  points  like  as 
we  are  ;  "  but  what  amazing  energy  He  displayed,  and  what 
lasting  work  he  did  !  What  revenues  He  has  brought  in 
from  conquered  Moab  and  Ammon  !  What  magnificent 
revenues,  I  say,  have  come  in  to  Him  and  come  into  us  ! 
What  spoils  of  war,  what  trophies  of  victory,  Christ  has 
brought  and  increasingly  is  bringing,  and  will  bring  to  all 
eternity  from  three  years'  work  well  done  before  God  and 
man  !  Give  Him  the  glory  of  this  verse  !  If  you  would  see 
this  verse  shining  in  all  its  heavenly  lustre  and  dazzling 
brightness,  bind  it  across  the  brow  of  the  Son  of  God ; 
"  He  became  mighty  because  He  prepared  His  ways  before 
the  Lord  His  God."    May  we  be  Uke  Him  I    Amen. 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


Regent  §qmxt  fnl^it 


"  OUT  OF  DAEKNESS,  INTO  LIGHT." 


%  S>txmm 

Trrached  in  Eegent  Square  Church, 
ON  Sabbath  Morning,  April  12th,  1801, 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


"A  man  that  is  called  Jesus  made  clay,  and  anointed  mine  eyes,  and 
said  unto  me.  Go  to  the  pool  of  Siloam,  and  wash  :  and  I  went  and 
washed,  and  I  received  sight." — John  ix.  11. 

If  I  mention  this  morning,  dear  friends,  that  I  am  tired, 
having  only  retmrned  yesterday  afternoon  from  evangelistic 
meetings,  held  twice  a  day  in  Bristol,  during  the  past  week, 
I  only  mention  it  in  order  that  you  and  I  may  fall  back 
upon  the  Eternal  Strength  that  is  never  exhausted,  and 
never  grows  weary.     And  now  to  business. 

Here  is  a  man  telling  us  what  is  always  an  interesting 
thing.  In  a  long  row  of  books  that  I  looked  at  the  other 
day  on  a  bookstall,  looking  only  on  the  outside  of  them,  the 
one  that  fastened  my  eyes  most  and  guided  my  hand  to  lift 
it,  and  at  any  rate  open  it,  was  one  bearing  the  title  on  the 
outside,  "  The  Story  of  My  Life." 

Now,  here  in  this  text  is  the  title  of  the  story  told  at 
length  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  John.     We  shall  not  go  into 

Vol.  III.— No.  23. 


346  "  OUT   OP   DAEKNESS,   INTO   LIGHT." 

all  his  story,  but  only  look  for  a  little  at  this  condensed, 
this  brief  epitome  of  his  life  here  and  hereafter.  This  is  the 
first  volume — nay,  it  is  even  less  than  that,  it  is  the  mere 
title-page ;  and  yet,  how  much  is  in  it !  There  can  be  no 
end,  surely,  to  the  life,  and  no  end  to  the  story,  the  first 
hours  of  which  have  such  marvels  in  them.  "  A  man  that 
is  called  Jesus  made  clay,  and  anointed  mine  eyes,  and  said 
unto  me.  Go  to  the  pool  of  Siloam,  and  wash  :  and  I  went 
and  washed,  and  I  received  sight."  Well,  now,  does  it  not 
strike  you  that  that  represents  substantially  the  simple  yet 
sublime  Gospel  always?  The  central  idea  of  all  stories 
worth  telling,  is  the  Person  and  Power  of  the  Man  Christ 
Jesus. 

"  'Tis  known  in  earth  and  heaven  too  ; 
'Tis  sweet  to  me  because  'tis  true  ; 
•  The  old,  old  story  is  ever  new — 

Tell  me  more  about  Jesus."  ; 

If  you  begin  to  tell  me  the  story  of  your  life,  and  if,  before 
you  get  very  far  into  it,  you  do  not  mention  His  name,  I 
assure  you  my  interest — aye.  Heaven's  interest — is  be- 
ginning to  wane  already.  You  may  have  travelled  in  many 
lands ;  you  may  have  been  greatly  good,  or  you  may  have 
been  greatly  bad ;  you  may  have  been  vastly  clever,  or  you 
may  have  been  vastly  dull;  or  you  may  have,  to  all  appear- 
ance, been  just  an  ordinary  jog-trot  person.  But  if  you  do 
not,  before  you  are  talking  long  on  the  story  of  your  life, — 
if  your  tongue  does  not  almost  instinctively,  and  without 
effort,  slip  out  His  name,  then  you  are  to  a  great  many 
people  like  "a  heathen  man  and  a  publican";  you  have 
really  nothing  to  tell.     Where,  in  all  the  world,  have  you 


"OUT    OF    DARKNESS,    INTO    LIGHT."  347 

lived  ?  Where  were  you  brought  up  ?  Out  of  what  nest 
did  you  come  ?  I  am  reminded  of  the  grotesquely-mingled 
humour  and  -pathos  of  Bret  Harte's  miner,  who  seemed 
to  think  everybody  should  know  "  Flynn  of  Virginia." 
And  why  ?  Simply  because  Flynn  had  saved  that  miner's 
life  at  the  expense  of  his  own.  The  man  who  "  didn't  know 
Flynn  "  was  to  him  a  weary  ignoramus  indeed.  I  tell  you, 
that  of  all  "  ferlies  " — as  they  say  across  the  Tweed — all 
wonderful  things,  the  wonder  will  fade  away  if  the  wonder 

of  the  wonder — the  centre  of  the  interest  is  not  this  :  "  A 

« 

man  called  Jesus."  Stanley's  wonderful  tale,  it  will  go  into 
the  dust  of  ages  and  never  be  heard  of,  unless,  somehow, 
there  is  in  the  middle  of  it  this  light  that  never  dirns,  the 
Name  of  Jesus. 

**  Jesus  !  the  Name  high  over  all, 
.  .  In  earth,  or  hell,  or  sky, 

Angels  and  men  before  Him  fall. 
And  devils  fear  and  fly." 

Yes,  this  blind  beggar  strikes  the  great  key-note  of  all 
history:  "  a  man  that  is  called  Jesus."  Now,  I  want  to 
bring  it  close  to  you  and  myself,  to  this  collection  of 
individuals  gathered  from  all  over  London.  Begin  to 
tell  your  story  ;  take  up  the  pen ;  there  is  a  clean  page ; 
could  you  write  one  page  of  lasting  interest  without  coming 
on  something  like  this  :  "  The  day  of  your  conversion ; 
the  day  of  the  upper  light  breaking  in  ;  the  day  when  the 
weariness,  when  the  beggary  and  hopelessness,  when  all 
that  was  adverse,  lifted  and  shifted,  and  you  began  to  be  a 
man,  and  to  go  ahead  ?— and  the  explanation  is  :  "A  man 


348  "  OUT    OF    DAUKNESS,    INTO    LIGHT." 

that  is  called  Jesus  "  came  into  living  contact  with  your- 
self, and  history,  and  destiny. 

"  A  man  that  is  called  Jesus."  And  we  will  never  get  to 
the  end ;  eternity  will  not  exhaust  the  tales  that  that  Jesus 
has  made  to  be  told.  It  will  be  one  of  the  delights  up 
yonder;  there  will  be  a  sameness,  and  yet  a  perpetual 
variety  that  will  for  ever  prevent  monotony.  There  v^ill 
be  a  monotone,  the  monotone  being  Jesus,  Jesus,  Jesus. 
But  just  as  my  voice  is  different  in  timbre,  and  resonance, 
and  register  from  yours,  even  so  will  your  way  of  telling 
His  name  be  different  from  mine.  All  music,  let  it  be  the 
simplest  ditty  or  the  greatest  anthem,  is  written  and  com- 
posed upon  the  usual  lines  and  spaces  of  the  stave.  But 
what  wonderful  variations  music  has  !  So  that  man  gives 
us  the  lines  and  spaces  of  all  music  that  is  worth  singing, 
right  on  to  the  anthems  that  in  cyclones  burst  about  the 
heavens.  "A  man  that  is  called  Jesus."  That  is  the 
clef,  and  the  key-note,  and  the  staff.  Up  and  down,  in 
there,  somehow,  it  is  bound  to  ring  and  swing.  "  A  man 
that  is  called  Jesus  made  clay,  and  anointed  mine  eyes,  and 
said  unto  me.  Go  to  Siloam,  and  wash :  and  I  went  and 
washed,  and  came  seeing." 

Further,  notice  in  this  man's  story,  not  only  the  great 
central  figure,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  God's  Son,  here 
among  us  to  undo  all  the  mischief  that  was  born  in  us, 
and  born  with  us ;  hereditary,  inveterate  evil,  to  ^tndo  it 
where  it  is  most  terribly  done  and  felt ;  but,  see  how  : — 
"He  made  clay,  and  anointed  mine  eyes."  That  is  one 
of  the  wonders,  the  strange  way  in  which  Jesus  saves  us. 


"  OUT    OF    DARKNESS,    INTO    LIGHT."  349 

*'  He  made  clay,"  ordinary  clay  ;  He  moistened  it  with  the 
saliva  of  His  own  mouth,  and  He  smeared  it  over  those 
blind  eyes.  Only,  perhaps,  a  little  of  the  wonder  dies  out  of 
it  for  some  of  us,  just  because,  after  all,  it  is  so  like  our  own. 
There  was  a  time  when,  with  us,  this  Gospel  that  has  brought 
the  daylight,  increased  the  darkness.  When  we  see  this  man 
rubbing  his  eyes,  and  telling  his  vivid  story,  we  feel  just 
like  that  farm-servant-woman  in  Ayrshire,  of  whom  you 
may  have  heard.  Somebody  came  in  making  a  great  fuss 
about  the  poems  of  one  Burns,  a  ploughman;  "The  Cottar's 
Saturday  Night  "  especially,  and  read  it — that  masterpiece 
of  the  poet's  genius.  She  saw  nothing  in  it.  She  said, 
"Dear  me,  they  did  that  in  my  father's  house  every  night." 
And  did  not  Jesus  just  deal  with  you  much  like  this?  Was 
there  not  a  time  when  Jesus  Christ  focussed  the  darkness  of 
your  mind,  if  I  may  use  a  paradoxical  expression  ?  Was 
there  any  name  wore  Jiopelessly  opaque  than  the  name  of 
Jesus  ?  Every  time  you  looked  at  the  Gospel,  the  Bible,  or 
every  time  you  listened  to  a  preacher,  you  were  just  gazing 
into  darkness,  vacuity,  emptiness.  The  preacher  preached, 
"  he  hummed  away,"  as  Tennyson's  Northern  Farmer  puts 
it — that  was  all.  Of  all  intellectual  exercises  to  which 
you  brought  your  mind,  this  was  the  one  wherein  the 
curtain-folds  dropped  thick  and  heavy  between  your  under- 
standing and  the  matter  in  hand.  You  were  not  a  fool; 
you  prided  yourself  in  those  days,  maybe,  on  your  in- 
telligence ;  you  read  the  hundred  best  books,  and  with  a 
certain  amount  of  luminousness ;  but  t^U  me  the  truth, 
how  much  did  you  read  the  Bible?     And  ivhy  did  you 


350  ''OUT    OF    DARKNESS,    INTO    LIGHT." 

turn  away  from  it,  and  away  from  the  Bible  in  the 
Bible,  the  Gospel,  and  away  from  the  Preacher?  A  cer- 
tain amount  of  mental  luminousness  everywhere,  but  when 
you  came  to  the  preacher  of  the  Cross  and  listened  to  him 
tell  me  truly,  was  he  not  just  making  clay,  and  plastering 
up  your  eyes  ?  It  is  a  somewhat  vulgar  expression  where  I 
came  from,  to  be  "  clayed  up  "  ;  but  it  is  not  vulgar  either, 
it  is  very  vivid — the  Gospel  simply  plastered  you  up ;  you 
never  felt  so  hopelessly  dense.  Ah !  God  works  with 
wonderful  consistency,  when  He  seems  to  be  somewhat 
outraging  common  sense  and  nature.  When  He  seems  to 
be  increasing  our  darkness,  that  is  His  way  of  preparing  us 
for  the  light. 

Dear  friend — I  speak  to  some  Christian  now — you  have 
found  Christ ;  you  never  forget  His  first  deahng  with  you 
when  at  the  first  He  was  a  ''  stone  of  stumbling,  and  a 
rock  of  offence" — and  most  of  us  nearly  broke  our  shins 
over  Him.  Then  there  came  the  heaHng  wand,  the 
strengthening.  But,  mind  you.  He  does  that  all  through. 
If  you  are  getting  again  into  a  time  of  extra  darkness, 
it  is,  depend  upon  it,  coming  round  to  the  same  thing 
that  you  experienced  in  conversion;  there  is  an  extra 
light  coming.  Clouds  and  darkness  are  always  round  about 
Him.  He  maketh  darkness  His  pavihon,  thick  clouds  of 
the  sky  are  the  curtain,  the  canopy  round  about  Him.  He 
is  inside  the  cloud  always,  and  if  the  darkness  seems  to 
come  down,  if,  perhaps,  you  are  in  great  trouble,  or  in  great 
trial.  He  is  very  near.  It  is  so  in  the  natural  world ;  a 
little  before  the  morning  breaks  the  night  was  never  so 


••out  of  darkness,  into  light."  351 

thick,  as  you  have  found  out  if  you  have  tmvelled  by 
night.  So  is  it  in  Christian  experience,  as  well  as  in 
conversion ;  often  at  the  thickest  darkness  new  revelation 
comes.  And  so  will  it  be  at  the  very  end ;  just  when  we 
are  about  to  enter  into  heaven  itself,  into  the  floods  of 
perfect  light,  the  clay  will  be  on  our  eyes  again. 

Robertson  of  Irvine  was  not  only  a  great  preacher,  he 
had  a  wonderful,  mystic,  poetic  vein  in  him. 

"It  darkens,"  he  said ;  and  I  cannot  help  thinking  of  his 
lines  as  illustrative  of  much  that  this  man's  eyes  smeared 
with  clay  suggests  to  us : — 

"  It  darkens  to  the  dawning 
More  than  in  all  the  night, 
Earth's  shadows  cast  an  awning 
Across  the  doors  of  light ; 

"  O'er  the  horizon  nearest, 

Lie  balanced  light  and  shade  ; 
And  where  the  light  is  clearest, 
The  dark  is  darkest  made. 

**  It  darkens  to  the  dying, 
As  ne'er  in  life  before, 
The  shadows  blackest  lying 
Around  the  heavenly  door. 

"  The  heavenly  light  sheds  glances 
On  pilgrims*  eyes  afar, 
But  he  finds  who  advances 
How  dark  the  shadows  are." 

And  casting    still    deeper    glances    into    our    subject,   he 
says : — 

••  Our  light's  a  veil  that  hides  us, 
And  hides  all  from  our  sight ; 
It  none  the  less  divides  us 
Although  the  veil  be  white. 


3-j2  "out  of  dakkness,  into  light. 

"  And  what,  when  life  is  ending, 
When  heart  and  eyesight  fail, 
Is  darkness  but  the  rending 
Of  that  dividing  veil  ? 

"  Not  so,  through  veils,  God  sees  U3, 
But  by  immediate  sight  ; 
And  they  who  dwell  with  Jesus, 
See,  too,  in  God's  own  light. 

'*  Know  as  they're  known,  asunder 
Is  every  veil  withdrawn, 
And  now  they  cease  to  wonder, 
It  darkened  ere  the  dawn  !  " 

"  He  made  clay,  and  spread  on  mine  eyes."  It  darkened 
ere  the  dawn.  So  it  does  often  in  the  after-life.  Understand 
God's  ways,  my  brother ;  understand  His  ways,  my  sister. 
If  you  have  not  been  converted,  and  if  the  name  of  Jesus, 
while  I  speak,  is  very  opaque,  and  all  His  redemption  by 
blood  is  very,  very,  very  dark  to  your  mind,  keep  steady,  be 
in  His  hands.  It  darkens  at  the  dawn.  Never  was  He  so 
near.  And  bo  with  trouble  and  trial  that  come  to  those 
who  are  enlightened.  Does  He  seem,  in  trouble,  sometimes 
to  you  pretty  much  as  to  the  blind  man  here  ?  He  put  clay 
on  the  eyes ;  He  does  things  that  make  the  very  nerves  to 
"  dirl,"  that  seem  to  be  utterly  unlike  "  salvation,"  and 
"  peace,"  and  "  brightness,"  that  seem  to  increase  darkness 
and  heaviness.  It  is  His  way.  It  is  a  grand  way,  though 
for  the  moment  it  is  utterly  confounding  to  flesh  and  blood 
and  natural  understanding. 

"  He  made  clay,  and  anointed  mine  eyes,  and  said  unto 
me,  Go  to  the  pool  of  Siloam,  and  wash :  and  I  went  and 
washed,  and  I  received  sight."  That  is  to  say,  first  of  all, 
what  He  did,  and  then  what  I  did.     He  came  here — "  The 


*'  OUT    OF    DARKNESS,    INTO    LIGHT.  353 

man  called  Jesus  "  ;  He  did  this — "  He  made  clay,  He 
spread  it  on  mine  eyes."  Then  I — there  are  always  the 
two  sides — He  and  me  :  what  He  was,  what  He  said, 
what  He  did;  and  what  I  felt,  what  I  thought,  what  I 
said,  and  how  the  thing  turned  out.  Never  was  anything 
more  natural,  while  never  w^as  anything  so  supernatural. 
Never  was  anything  so  plain,  while  never  was  anything  so 
miraculous,  for  Godhead  is  in  it  to  all  eternity.  "  He  made 
clay  " ;  that  is  to  say,  among  other  suggestions,  Christ  made 
the  Gospel,  and  He  is  the  Gospel.  In  this  nineteenth  century 
we  have  become  so  clever  that  you  w^ould  almost  think  that 
we  had  made  it ;  you  would  almost  think  we  could  shape, 
twist,  cut,  and  turn  it  as  we  please.  But,  no  Jesus — no 
Gospel,  no  light,  no  hope.  Jesus  is  the  Gospel,  and  if  there 
is  contradiction  and  mystery  in  it,  you  have  to  take  it  as  He 
made  it.  Don't  you  tamper  with  the  clay  and  spittle  that 
your  Creator  has  mixed  together.  Don't  you  tamper  with 
it,  with  your  confounded  intellect — may  I  beg  pardon  for 
saying  that  ? — I  mean  your  confounded  pride  of  intellect. 
The  Gospel  may  only  be  like  clay  and  spittle,  but  it  is  His 
power  to  save  you  for  all  that.  Deal  wisely,  deal  humbly, 
deal  carefully  ;  He  has  made  it  not  to  ruin  your  eyes,  but 
He  has  made  it  to  quench  the  baleful  light  of  pride  and  un- 
anointed  natural  reason.  When  **  the  film  of  fallen  nature  " 
is  broken,  you  shall  see  and  know. 

"  He  said  to  me.  Go  and  wash  "  ;  that  is  to  say.  He  made 
me  do  something.  And  this  man  went  and  did  it.  See 
that  man  going  away  with  his  plastered-up  eyes ;  and  I 
like  to  think  that  he  is  like  many  a  man  to  whom  I  may 


354  "OUT    OF   DARKNESS,    INTO   LIGHT." 

preach.  He  has,  perhaps,  come  in  here  dark,  he  has  been 
here  before  to-day,  and  while  he  is  hstening  to  me  this 
morning,  the  darkness  increases.  Oh,  you  are  judging  my 
performance,  and  from  your  standpoint  you  say,  **  These 
are  about  the  poorest  utterances  I  ever  hstened  to ;  there 
is  neither  sense  nor  reason  in  them.  They  are  irritating." 
Now,  if,  instead  of  being  like  Naaman  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  getting  irritated,  you  would  be  like  the  blind  man  of 
the  New  Testament,  then  you  are  just  on  the  verge  of  the 
great  discovery  as  to  who  Jesus  is,  and  how  the  light  comes, 
and  how  sweet  it  is  when  it  does  come.  Naaman  got 
angry  with  EHsha  for  putting  plaster  on  his  eyes.  When 
Elisha  said  to  Naaman,  "Go  wash  seven  times  in  the 
Jordan,  and  you  will  be  cured  of  your  leprosy,"  he  went 
away  in  a  rage ;  that  fairly  closed  him  up,  he  could  not  see 
a  "stime" — as  they  say  across  the  Tweed;  and  he  went 
away  angry,  as  if  he  had  been  trifled  with,  and  had  insult 
added  to  his  injury.  But  the  servants  were  kinder  to  him 
than  he  was  to  himself,  and  they  said,  "  My  father,  if  the 
prophet  had  bid  you  do  some  great  thing,  would  you  not 
have  done  it  ?  how  much  rather  then,  when  he  saith,  Wash, 
and  be  clean.  And  he  went  to  the  Jordan  and  washed 
seven  times,  according  to  the  saying  of  the  man  of  God : 
and  his  flesh  came  to  him  like  a  little  child,  and  he  was 
clean." 

This  man,  although  he  was  not  a  great  general,  or  any- 
thing like  that,  but  just  a  poor  beggar,  was  far  more 
workable  in  the  hands  of  Jesus  than  Naaman  was  in  the 
bands  of  the  prophet.     For  Naaman  had  a  great  deal  of 


**  OUT   OF   DARKNESS,    INTO    LIGHT."  355 

pride  to  overcome.  True,  Naaman  was  a  leper,  but  then 
he  was  not  an  ordinary  leper.  "  Naaman  was  a  captain, 
and  a  great  man  with  his  master,  and  by  him  the  Lord 
had  given  deliverance  to  Syria,  though  he  was  a  leper." 
This  man  was  a  beggar,  and  beggars  have  less  pride  than 
generals,  and  captains,  and  big  folks.  Beggars  are  used  to 
being  moved  on  and  pushed  about  in  this  bustling  world. 
Beggars  can't  be  choosers ;  it  does  not  become  them  to 
find  fault  with  the  doctor's  prescriptions  at  a  free  dis- 
pensary. If  there  is  any  chance  of  its  doing  good,  the 
wisest  plan  is  to  go  and  try  it  first,  and  then  get  angry 
afterwards,  if  you  have  been  cheated.  I  wish  we  could  all 
come  to  the  beggar's  meekness  and  humility,  and  get  rid 
of  Naaman's  pride,  and  consequence,  and  self-importance. 
You  are  only  keeping  back  your  cure,  the  more  disobedient 
you  are.  Look  at  that  poor  beggar,  with  clay  on  his  eyes, 
getting  somehow  to  the  pool  of  Siloam.  I  do  not  know 
how,  but  he  went  and  he  washed.  There  he  is.  Perhaps 
he  thought  this  was  '*  a  silly  thing  "  he  had  been  told  to  do  ; 
but  what  if  it  should  bring  his  sight,  would  it  not  be  worth 
trying  ?  His  faith  was  of  the  kind  that  turns  to  obedience, 
and  when  what  Christ  had  done  and  said  was  mingled 
with  faith,  that  clay  became  a  very  heavenly  lotion  that 
washed  away  his  blindness. 

The  cataract  was  gone ;  "  He  came  seeing."  Now,  the 
Gospel,  seen  from  the  outside,  seems  to  be  as  unUkely  to 
save  as  clay  on  blind  eyes.  But  it  will  become  an  en- 
lightener,  just  the  lotion  we  need,  if  we  will  mix  faith, 
obedience,  and  simplicity  with  it.     "  The  Word  preached 


356  "OUT    OF   DARKNESS,    INTO    LIGHT." 

did   not   profit   them,   not  being  mixed   with  faith,"  you 
remember. 

"  Go  and  wash  in  the  Pool  of  Siloam :  and  I  went  and 
washed,  and  came  seeing."  That  is  the  history  of  an 
enUghtened  soul.  Some  of  us  will  have  to  put  in  a  great 
deal,  in  telling  our  story,  about  the  roundabout  roads  we 
took  to  Siloam,  and  how  we  stumbled  and  "  bogled  "  at  it, 
and  what  a  long  time  it  took  us  to  get  there,  and  then  to 
bend  our  proud  back  and  wash.  But  we  will  all  come 
right  out  here.  When  I  did  go  (and  **  g — o  "  means  go,  and 
"  wash  "  means  wash) — "  When  I  went  and  washed,  I 
came  seeing."  Oh  for  a  tongue  of  thunder  to  send  it 
through  God's  darkened  world  !  '*  Go  wash  :  and  I  went 
and  washed,  and  came  seeing."  Personal  experience  may 
help.  Do  I  speak  to  any  young  man  here  who  is 
stumbling  at  the  Gospel's  way  of  bringing  light.  Acts 
16th  chapter,  31st  verse,  when  I  was  eighteen  or  nineteen 
years  of  age,  was  to  me  the  clay  on  mine  eyes.  I  sat 
down  before  that  verse,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  Now,  to  me  that  was  as  opaque 
as  it  is  to  you  at  this  moment;  the  darkness  thickened 
there,  I  must  honestly  confess.  I  wrote  to  my  minister  and 
told  him,  and  I  said,  "The  light  must  be  there  of  course, 
but  I  don't  see  anything ;  to  me  it  is  just  words,  it  makes 
no  difference  on  me."  And  of  course  it  was  easy  for  him  to 
write  back,  that  it  was  bound  to  make  a  difference ;  if  I 
would  only  believe  and  obey,  he  said,  the  light  was  there, 
the  heavenly  healing  was  there,  the  gracious  power  was 
there.     And  he  was  right,  as  I  soon  found  out.     The  light 


"OUT    OF    DARKNESS,    INTO    LIGHT."  357 

did  come  by  simply  believing  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
"  I  saw."  Multitudes  of  those  who  are  seeing  and  walk- 
ing through  the  heavenly  Jerusalem  can  testify  the  same. 
Then  be  assured  by  it,  and  be  comforted  by  it ;  only  keep 
believing,  only  keep  trusting,  only  keep  looking ;  especially 
let  your  faith  take  the  humble  form  of  obedience.  Crook 
your  knee,  for  example ;  bend  the  stiff  sinew  in  the  hough, 
and  pray  ;  go  down  beside  your  beds  in  your  lodgings,  and 
pray.  You  may  be,  just  then,  like  the  blind  man  washing — 
you  may  rise  seeing.  "  We  stoop  so  weak,  we  rise  so  full  of 
power,"  and  brightness  and  gladness.  The  Gospel,  mixed 
v^th  faith  in  them  that  hear  it,  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation. 

"Go  wash  in  Siloam."  In  the  7th  verse,  you  notice, 
John  found  an  idea  in  the  very  name  of  the  pool.  Inter- 
preting it  for  Greek  readers,  he  says,  "  Siloam,  which  is  by 
interpretation,  Sent."  Now,  "John  was  not  writing  a 
dictionary  "  ;  then,  why  did  he  take  the  trouble  to  explain 
this  word  ?  Just  because  there  was  a  point  of  light  there. 
Often  when  you  seem  to  be  going  away  from  Jesus,  you  are 
just  going  to  Him.  That  is  to  say,  obey  Him  ;  go  along  this 
track;  be  all  that  you  would  be,  and  do  what  you  would  do, 
as  you  think,  were  the  light  come ;  and  though  it  seems  to 
lead  you  further  away  into  deeper  darkness,  you  will  come 
on  Him  very  soon.  "  Whatsoever  He  saith  unto  you,  do  it, 
do  it."  The  proof  of  the  Gospel  is  the  doing  of  it.  He  is  the 
"  Sender  "  :  "  Go  wash."  He  is  also  the  "  Sent  "  ;  He  Him- 
self is  the  Water,  He  Himself  is  the  cleansing.  He  Himself 
is   the  healing.     He  sends  you  from  Himself  to  ^Himself, 


358  **  OUT    OF   DAKKNESS,    INTO   LIGHT." 

Himself  at  this  point,  to  Himself  at  this  other  point.  He 
is  waiting  to  catch  your  bUnd  footsteps  all  round  about.  If 
you  are  obeying  His  word,  do  not  think  that  you  will 
wander ;  you  will  have  the  Light  of  light,  my  dear  friend, 
sooner  than  you  think.  Even  to  begin  to  obey  His  word,  to 
bend  and  obey,  to  begin  to  mix  faith  with  what  you  hear 
and  read  in  the  Gospel,  that  is  the  beginning  of  light,  and 
you  are  not  giving  Him  enough  credit  for  it. 

From  the  moment  in  which  that  blind  man  got  his  eyes 
"  anointed  "  with  clay,  and  turned  from  Jesus  to  go  away 
and  wash,  from  that  moment  the  light  was  on  the  road. 
Every  moment  that  he  put  off  taking  the  first  step  he 
delayed  his  blessing;  but  from  the  moment  he  took  his 
first  clear  step,  and  the  next,  and  the  next,  obeying  Christ's 
word,  he  was  on  the  way  to  light,  and  to  the  greater  light, 
the  light  that  never  was  on  sea  or  shore,  "  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ." 
I  pity  every  soul  here  to  whom  that  light  has  never  come. 
"  I  went  and  washed,  and  I  received  sight."  We  have 
managed  to  put  in  some  thoughts  there,  and  I  trust  not 
unprofitably ;  although  my  ideas  are  of  the  most  obvious 
kind,  yet  they  are  God's  ideas,  and  may  they  help  us.  "I 
went  and  washed" — that  is  my  part,  ''and  I  came 
seeing."  Do  not  stand  up  and  tell  me  that  there  is  no 
difference,  that  the  Gospel  makes  no  difference,  that  the 
Gospel  is  played  out,  that  it  has  lost  its  power.  "  Tell  that 
to  the  marines,"  but  do  not  tell  it  to  the  blind  man,  or  you 
will  get  your  answer  very  sharply.  You  will  hardly  argue 
a  man  out  of  his  eyes.     I  would  like  to  set  down  Professor 


"OUT    OF    DAEKNESS,    INTO    LIGHT."  359 

Huxley  and  that  blind  man,  and  listen  to  them  in  con- 
troversy. Might  I  be  there  to  see  !  I  can  easily  tell  you 
who  would  win.  "  One  thing  I  know,  Professor,"  he  would 
say,  and  he  would  be  most  deferential,  and  give  the 
Professor  all  credit  for  his  great  learning  and  his  brilliant, 
incisive  style,  &c. ;  but  he  would  say,  "  One  thing  I  know  : 
whereas  I  was  bhnd,  now  I  see."  Do  you  tell  me  that 
the  Gospel  has  lost  its  power,  and  that  it  makes  no 
difference  whether  you  believe  or  not?  "I  went  and  I 
washed,  and  I  came  seeing."  Look  at  him,  he  stoops  as 
dark  as  possible — as  dark  as  midnight.  He  washes, 
that  clay  comes  off;  he  washes  and  stands  up.  Yonder 
I  see  him  coming  up  the  town.  "0  my  God,"  he 
says,  "  what  a  city  I  have  been  living  in  —  what 
skies,  what  trees,  what  birds ;  look  at  that  temple — 
what  soaring  towers,  what  flashing  roofs !  The  faces,  too, 
of  my  fellow-men  !  What  a  wonderful  world  it  has  been, 
and  I  never  saw  it  till  this  moment !  "  And,  shortly  after, 
the  great  sight,  the  face  of  Jesus,  and  the  faith  of  Jesus — 
"  Lord,  I  believe  " — and  he  worshipped  Him.  My  dear  un- 
saved friend,  I  don't  want  to  twit  you,  but  I  do  assure  you 
you  are  missing  everything  worth  enjoying  in  the  world  that 
God  has  put  you  in.  What  a  great  picture  it  is — and  not  a 
picture  only;  it  is  crammed  with  realities,  and  you  have 
never  seen  !  Or,  to  change  the  figure,  you  are  deaf,  and 
have  never  heard.  You  remember  how  Wordsworth 
describes  the  deaf  Dalesman  away  up  yonder  in  the  midst 
of  all  the  Lake  scenery.  He  describes  the  storm  and  the 
effects  that  it  makes  when  the  clouds  are  driven  on  the 


3C0  "  OUT    OF   DABKNESS,    INTO    LIGHT." 

sharp  edge  of  the  rocky  cUfis,  and  the  wind  works  the  bosom 
of  the  lake  into  a  thousand  thousand  waves.  And  then  he 
says  about  the  deaf  man,  as  onlooker — 

"The  agitated  scene  before  his  eye  was  silent  as  a  picture, 
And  evermore  were  all  things  silent  wheresoe'er  he  moved." 

Till  Jesus  Christ's  grace  comes,  you  are  living  in  the  dark ; 
yoa  see  nothing  and  hear  nothing,  you  know  nothing,  you 
enjoy  nothing;  but  when  the  light  comes,  "  Old  things  are 
passed  away,  lo,  all  things  are  become  new." 

'*  I  looked  to  Jesus  and  I  found 
In  Him  my  star,  my  sun, 
And  in  that  light  of  life  I'll  walk 
Till  travelling  days  are  done." 

May  God  grant  that  for  this  morning's  work  the  record 
may  be  written :  "  We  went  and  washed,  and  returned 
seeing."     For  Christ's  sake.     Amen. 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  ft-iiiters,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  LoiJon,  W. 


Ilegent  gqmxt  f  ulpit 


"BY  FAITH  EAHAB  THE  HAELOT  PEEISHED 
NOT." 


Pbbaohbd  in  Begent  Square  Church, 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL 


Joshua  ii. 

The  story  of  Rahab.  What  are  ws  to  make  of  it  ?  I  notice 
that  some  commentators  are  nervous  about  coming  near  it  ; 
and  of  course  there  has  been  any  amount  of  discussion,  pro 
and  con,  about  Rahab's  character  before  this  incident  and 
about  the  way  in  which  she  acted  in  the  incident  itself, 
especially  in  the  fore  part  of  it.  Well,  when  you  have  read 
it  all,  and  sit  back  and  lift  your  head  out  of  the  books  and 
take  a  broad  look,  does  it  not  look  a  little  Pharisaical  that 
there  should  be  such  gingerliness  in  coming  near  to  such  a 
story?  After  all,  remember  what  the  whole  world  is  in 
God's  regard.  What  is  it?  The  whole  world,  in  God's 
regard,  "  lieth  in  the  wicked  one."  Rahab  was  no  more  in 
the  devil's  bosom  than  Adam  was  after  the  fall,  and  if  God 
has  to  come  near  to  "  the  whole  world,"  and  if  God  is  to 
carry  on  His  precious  and  His  eternal  purpose,  we  should 
not  start  back  in  mock  horror  and  put  on  a  Pharisaic  look 
Vol  III.— No.  24. 


362   **  BY  FAITH  RAHAB  THE  HARLOT  PERISHED  NOT." 

when  we  find  some  opening  of  doors  for  the  admission  of 
Himself  and  the  purpose  of  His  grace  in  very  unlikely 
quarters.  When  His  dear  Son  came  into  the  world,  it  was 
said  about  Him  in  the  same  mock  Pharisaic  tone,  "This 
man  receiveth  sinners,  and  eateth  with  them."  Well,  I  say, 
if  He  was  to  get  bite  and  sup,  to  eat  and  drink  in  this 
world  at  all,  where  was  He  to  go  if  not  to  sinners'  houses, 
seeing  that,  from  His  point  of  view.  He  came  to  a  sinful 
world  ?  I  think  that  there  is  a  little  too  much  gingerliness 
and  a  little  too  much  of  feeling  that,  when  we  come  to  a  story 
like  this,  we  are  skating  over  thin  ice,  and  we  must  be  very 
fleet  indeed  or  we  shall  go  through.  I  think  that  it  is  out 
of  that  feeling  that  commentators,  with  the  best  intentions, 
have  tried  to  make  out  that  Eahab  did  not  deserve  the  bad 
name.  I  do  not  see  what  is  to  be  gained  by  that.  I  am 
rather  the  other  way.  I  am  glad  to  find  a  story  like  this. 
The  more  I  get  to  find  out  what  is  in  my  own  heart,  and, 
if  you  will  allow  me,  the  more  I  get  to  find  out  what  is  in 
yours,  the  more  glad  I  am  to  find  that  this  God  of  ours, 
glorious  in  holiness  though  He  be,  does  not  pull  in  His 
skirts  and  keep  Himself  apart  from  sinners.  He  is  "  holy, 
harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sinners,  made  higher  than 
the  heavens,"  and  yet  He  loves  a  harlot,  and  saves  her,  and 
makes  her  a  messenger  of  His  grace  and  an  ancestress  of 
His  blessed  Son.  "  Indeed,  from  the  days  of  Jerome  it  has 
been  noticed  that  the  four  women  mentioned  in  that 
genealogy  are  heathens  or  persons  of  bad  character,  or  both 
in  one." 

It  13  not  too  strong  to  put  it  that  Eahab 's  blood  was  in 


*'  BY  FAITH  KAHAB  THE  HARLOT  PERISHED  NOT."   363 

Christ's  veins  as  a  man.  Now,  again  I  say,  I  wonder  if  we 
know  our  Saviour.  It  is  not  too  strong  to  put  it  so.  Read 
the  record,  read  the  genealogy,  and  you  will  find  that  Christ 
was  born  of  a  race  of  people  some  of  whom  I  am  not  sure 
that  you  would  have  shaken  hands  with,  before  you  knew 
that  Christ  came  of  their  stock.  Oh,  then  we  would  run 
and  we  would  forget  all  about  their  badness,  and  shake 
hands  with  them,  and  be  deHghted  to  see  them.  Let  us 
remember  that  when  we  go  out  and  when  we  go  into  this 
wicked  London.  Take  care.  Do  not  just  dub  people  with 
bad  names  and  pull  in  your  skirts.  They  may  be  in  heaven 
before  you — very  likely.  They  need  a  great  deal  of  God's 
long-suffering,  and  you  need  and  I  need  just  the  same. 

I  have  often  said  it,  and  I  repeat  it :  I  am  not  sure  if  we 
know  this  God  of  ours  yet.  If  we  do,  why  should  it  be 
tried,  as  some  try,  to  make  out  that  the  word  is  wrongly 
translated,  and  Rahab  was  only  an  innocent  innkeeper  ?  I 
do  feel  that  that  savours  of  the  Pharisee.  It  belongs  to  the 
same  spirit  as  that  which  has  prevailed  among  those  excel- 
lent and  gracious  men,  the  Revisers  of  the  New  Testament, 
who  have  put  a  railing  round  yon  wonderful  story  in  the 
New  Testament  (John  viii.)  as  to  Christ's  manner  of  dealing 
with  women  like  this.  They  have  put  brackets  round  about 
it,  and  lifted  it,  as  it  were,  and  set  it  apart,  just  as  you  will 
see  in  the  country  a  railing  round  about  the  open  shaft  of  a 
disused  pit,  to  keep  you  from  falling  in.  That  is  a  little 
more,  I  think,  of  the  Pharisee,  and  of  a  want  of  under- 
standing what  the  world  is  from  God's  point  of  view, 
and  that,  when   God  comes  near  to   the   world,  even  to 


S64:    "by  faith  rahab  the  harlot  perished  not." 

the  decent  end  of  the  world  where  you  and  I  live,  He 
comes  near  to  as  big  sinners  as  there  are  going,  and  needs 
to  come  as  a  God  who  pardons  iniquity,  and  transgression, 
and  sin,  and  flings  our  iniquities  behind  our  backs  and  says 
nothing  about  them,  except  "They  are  forgiven:  sin  no 
more." 

"They  went  and  came  into  an  harlot's  house,  named 
Bahab,  and  lodged  there.  And  it  was  told  the  king  of 
Jericho,  saying.  Behold,  there  came  men  in  hither  to-night 
of  the  children  of  Israel  to  search  out  the  country.  And  the 
king  of  Jericho  sent  unto  Eahab,  saying,  Bring  forth  the  men 
that  are  come  to  thee,  which  are  entered  into  thine  house  : 
for  they  be  come  to  search  out  all  the  country.  And  the 
woman  took  the  two  men,  and  hid  them,  and  said  thus, 
There  came  two  men  unto  me,  but  I  wist  not  whence  they 
were :  and  it  came  to  pass  about  the  time  of  shutting  of 
the  gate,  when  it  was  dark,  that  the  men  went  out :  whither 
the  men  went,  I  wot  not :  pursue  after  them  quickly  ;  for  ye 
shall  overtake  them.  But  she  had  brought  them  up  to  the 
roof  of  the  house,  and  hid  them  with  the  stalks  of  flax, 
which  she  had  laid  in  order  upon  the  roof."  Critics, 
especially  unbelieving,  stand  round  this,  and  start,  and  say, 
**  Now,  we  have  got  you.  Now,  there  is  a  Bible  narrative. 
"What  have  you  to  say  about  that?  "  Ah  !  it  is  very  easy 
"  saying  about  that."  It  was  just  a  black  He.  That  is  what 
it  was.  I  am  not  going  to  defend  that.  The  Bible  does  not 
ask  me  to  defend  that.  I  grant  that  it  served  God's  purpose, 
but  God  Himself  remains  free  from  every  taint.  Why 
should  not  the  devil  be  a  little  too  clever?     And  seeing 


"  BY  FAITH  RAHAB  THE  HARLOT  TERISHRD  NOT."   365 

that  Rahab  had  been  bad  in  his  service,  why  should  not, 
occasionally,  just  the  very  same  thing  be  used  for  the 
destruction  of  his  kingdom  that  so  often  and  often  goes  as 
far  as  it  can  in  the  building  of  it  up  and  its  perpetuation  ? 
It  was  not  true.  It  was  all  wrong ;  and  I  am  not  here  to 
twist  it  or  to  whitewash  it.  No  amount  of  whitewash  will 
whitewash  a  lie.  The  black  will  shine  through  all  the 
white,  do  as  you  may,  and  you  had  better  lay  down  your 
brush  and  your  pot,  and  simply  say  that  the  thing  cannot 
be  done.  There  is  not  a  glint  in  this  chapter  that  the  Lord 
wants  me,  in  expounding  it,  to  make  out  that  in  some 
subtle  or  mysterious  way  this  was  true.  It  was  not.  It  is 
all  wrong.  Paint  the  thing  as  bad  and  as  black  as  you  may, 
and  go  right  through  the  narrative,  and  you  will  find,  if  we 
keep  clear  of  prejudice,  and  if  we  keep  clear  of  the  Pharisee, 
that  the  whole  story  redounds  to  the  praise  and  the  glory  of 
the  God  of  grace,  and  humbles  us  in  the  dust. 

And  yet,  mind  you,  in  one  sense  it  was  clever,  and  I  want 
to  say  that  broadly,  too.  Yes,  this  was  very  clever.  This 
woman,  as  I  sometimes  put  it,  was  worth  the  saving.  As 
to  some  of  the  clever  sinners,  I  often  feel  that  the  devil  has 
driven  them  such  lengths  just  because  they  were  clever — 
just  because  there  was  some  ability  about  them — because 
there  was  something  outstanding  about  them.  They  never 
could  be  tame,  and  colourless,  and  neutral — never ;  and  so 
the  devil  caught  them  and  made  them  notorious  in  his 
service.  But  the  Lord  does  not  like  that  the  devil  should 
have  a  monopoly  of  all  t^e  clever  people,  and  He  comes 
occasionally  and  saves  a  bad  rascal  who  is  clever — "a clever 


366  "  BY  FAITH  BAHAB  THE  HARLOT  PERISHED  NOT. 

devil,"  if  I  may  so  put  it — whether  man  or  woman,  and 

He  takes  such  over  to  His  side  and  uses  them  for  His  own 

behalf.     Why  should  He  not  ?    When  I  read  the  story,  I 

feel  inclined  to  forget  for  a  moment  the   woman's  bad 

character,   and    forget    for    a  moment  the  twist  that  is 

in  it,  and  just  simply  look  at  it  from  the  point  of  view 

of  "  patriotism."     I  do  not  think  that  The  Times  would 

have  objected  to  that  woman.    I  think  that  The   Times 

would  have  made  that  woman  a  special    correspondent 

in  some  parts.     I  think  so.      She  could  have  dressed  up  a 

story  beautifully  for  partisan  purposes.     How   she  fooled 

the  men  1    How  serious  she  looked,  as  if  she  was  the  most 

virtuous  woman  in  the  land — as  if  she  were  taking  them  at 

their  word,  and  expected  that  from  her  very  appearance 

and  the  sincerity  of  her  tone  they  would  take  her  at  her 

word.     **  Yes,  the  men  were  here,  and  just  at  the  gloaming, 

just  on  the  darkening,  they  went  away — I  do  not  know 

where.    But  go   after  them.    They   are  just   a  little  bit 

before  you.    Push  on  and  you  will  overtake  them."    And 

the  men  were  completely  beguiled  by  her  obvious  sincerity 

and  the  plausibleness  of  her  story.    I  fancy  that  they 

thanked  her.    Off  they  went,  and  Rahab  laughed  in  her 

sleeve,  and  went  up  to  the  top  of  the   house   to  tell  the 

spies  what  she  had  done. 

Ah,  yes !  I  want  to  say  here,  men,  young  men,  middle- 
aged  men,  old  men,  you  and  I  should  pray  far  more  than 
we  do  that  the  grace  of  God  would  save  women,  for  when 
the  devil  gets  hold  of  them  for  his  purposes  they  make 
very  short  work  of  us,  even  the  wisest  of  us.     They  have 


'•  BY  FAITH  RAHAB  THE  HARLOT  PERISHED  NOT."   367 

a  tremendous  power,  and  Satan  knows  it.  I  do  not  want 
to  bring  you  too  near  to  shock  your  delicacy,  but  it  is  time 
that  we  got  rid  of  all  that  is  false,  and  time  that  we  opened 
our  eyes.  My  dear  mother,  my  dear  father,  the  greatest 
danger  to  your  hopeful  family,  to  your  young,  bright, 
hopeful  son,  is  in  the  direction  that  I  am  indicating.  It  is 
not  a  subject  for  smiling ;  it  is  not  a  subject  for  sarcasm ; 
it  is  not  a  subject  for  unsanctified  wit.  It  is  a  subject  for 
deep  solemnity  and  for  plain  handling. 

*'  She  had  brought  them  up  to  the  roof  of  the  house,  and 
hid  them  with  the  stalks  of  flax,  which  she  had  laid  in 
order  upon  the  roof.  And  the  men  pursued  after  them  the 
way  to  Jordan  unto  the  fords."  We  will  let  them  go,  and 
will  turn  back  with  R:ihab,  for  we  know  better  than  to 
follow  them. 

"  And  before  they  were  laid  down,  she  came  up  unto 
them  upon  the  roof,  and  she  said  unto  the  men,  I  know 
that  the  Lord  hath  given  you  the  land,  and  that  your  terror 
is  fallen  upon  us,  and  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land 
faint  because  of  you.  For  we  have  heard  how  the  Lord 
dried  up  the  water  of  the  Red  Sea  before  you,"  and  so  on. 
My  friends,  what  a  strange  thing  is  the  human  heart,  in 
its  badness  and  its  goodness,  all  jumbled  up  together. 
There  was  not  at  that  moment,  I  believe,  either  in  Israel 
or  in  godless  Jericho,  a  human  being  who  had  a  finer 
intuitive  perception  of  what  God  was  going  to  do  than 
that  undoubtedly  corrupt  woman.  Do  not  go  and  label  a 
person,  because  he  is  notoriously  bad,  as  being  altogether 
bad.      You  never  know  what  good  grains   are   in   whole 


368  "  BY  FAITH  RAHAB  THE  HAELOT  PERISHED  NOT." 

bushels  of  chaff.  You  never  know  what  gleams  of  gold 
may  be  in  tons  of  mud.  After  this,  let  us  draw  near  to 
the  most  hopeless  with  the  Gospel.  Very  likely  they  are 
far  more  salvable  than  we  thought  they  were.  Do  not  cast 
them,  like  rubbish,  to  the  void.  God  knows  better,  and 
that  is  not  His  way.  He  gives  them  a  turn  through  the 
riddle.  He  shovels  with  a  broad-mouthed  shovel,  and 
gives  all  the  debris  a  turn  through  the  screens,  to  see  how 
much  will  stick ;  and  Eahab  did  not  go  through  on  to  the 
rubbish  heap.  She  held  on  this  side  of  it.  We  are  doing 
no  more—the  best  of  us. 

How  wonderful !  "I  know  that  the  Lord  your  God  hath 
given  you  the  land.  The  fear  and  the  terror  of  you  have 
fallen  upon  us."  A  woman,  a  bad  woman,  living  a  kind  of 
life  that  cannot  be  named,  or  only  named  and  suggested 
with  infinite  horror,  and  disgust,  and  reprobation,  and  yet 
in  it  all,  through  it  all,  she  had  an  ear  and  an  eye  for 
other  things  than  lust  and  sin.  She  was  not  all  swallowed 
up  with  badness. 

Now,  when  we  come  to  that,  see  here.  There  are  men 
down  the  town  there — and,  maybe,  they  are  in  here — and 
they  never  were  like  that  woman.  They  are  in  church 
every  Sunday,  but  no  man  ever  yet  saw  that  there  was  a 
chink  or  cranny  in  them  into  which  any  light  poured,  except 
light  about  their  business.  As  regards  God,  eternity,  salvation, 
they  simply  know  nothing.  There  is  a  whoo  whoo  whoo  of 
Bible  words  sounding  in  their  ears  on  a  Sunday,  but  it  never 
gets  any  farther.  Now,  Eahab  was  not  just  like  that,  bad 
as  she  was.     She  had  eyes  and  ears  which  folks  did  not 


think  of;  and  there  it  is.  There  ig  no  getting  over  it. 
God  knows  what  He  is  doing  when  He  comes  on  that 
track.  Do  not  just  give  her  a  bad  name,  as  if  that  summed 
her  up.  It  is  easy  to  write  out  labels  of  particular  sins. 
Because  we  see  a  certain  man  tottering,  we  take  the  pen, 
and  the  ink-horn,  and  the  label,  and  write  down 
**  Drunkard  "  ;  and  that  is  all  about  him  that  we  know ;  we 
saw  him  drunk.  And  one  woman  gets  this  kind  of  name, 
and  some  other  gets  another  kind  of  name;  and  all  the 
analyses  are  cheap,  and  paltry,  and  inadequate.  I  want  to 
stand  up  for  sinners,  and  you  should  help  me.  It  every 
way  becomes  us.  Some  kinds  of  sinner,  I  do  feel,  are 
far  too  much  run  down ;  and  others,  again,  get  off  far  too 
easily.  And  a  good  deal  of  it  is  just  the  Pharisee  in  us.  This 
Bible  never  was  written  by  Pharisees — never ;  the  Psalm- 
book  was  not  composed  by  a  Pharisee,  whoever  its  author 
was.  How  useful  Rahab  was  for  Joshua's  purposes  of 
attack  and  assault.  Think  of  him  and  his  band  there, 
coming  creeping  up  along  the  skirts  of  the  desert — that 
strange,  mysterious  host  that,  for  long  years,  had  been 
away  back  there,  and  now  and  again,  like  a  railway  train, 
sounding  signals  as  it  went — now  and  again,  in  all  those 
years,  striking  a  blow  here  and  there  at  their  enemies. 
And  now  all  the  interest  in  them  that  has  been  flying 
abroad  on  the  wings  of  rumour  is  deepening,  for  spies  and 
scouts  have  seen  them  coming — that  strange  company  of 
people,  led  with  a  tall,  grey  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and 
a  flaming  pillar  of  fire  by  night.  And  they  are  coming, 
creeping  up  nearer,  and  nearer,   and  nearer.     And  when 


370  "  BY  FAITH  KAHAB  THE  HAELOT  PERISHED  NOT." 

God  wants  to  encourage  His  people  to  do  what 
their  fathers  had  failed  to  do,  He  makes  the  channel 
of  His  encouragement  Eahab,  the  harlot.  He  feels 
Eahab's  pulse ;  or  rather,  he  enables  Joshua  through  the 
report  of  the  spies  to  feel  the  agitation  and  palpitation 
of  Eahab's  pulse,  and,  through  that,  to  gauge  the  state 
of  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  the  land.  So  that, 
when  afterwards  Joshua  came  up,  and  there  were  the 
great  thick  walls,  and  there  were  the  towering  giants, 
the  sons  of  Anakim,  he  was  not  daunted ;  he  was  not 
afraid ;  and  simply  because,  under  God,  through  the  report 
of  these  men  as  to  what  Eahab  had  told  them,  he  had 
stolen  a  march  upon  the  inhabitants.  He  had  got,  as  it 
were,  into  the  very  headquarters  of  the  camp  of  the  enemy, 
and  he  knew — and  God  through  Eahab  let  him  know — 
that,  with  all  their  big  walls,  and  with  all  their  towering 
height,  their  hearts  within  them  were  going  pit-a-pat 
through  sheer  nervousness  and  fright.  Is  not  that  some- 
thing to  know  ?  Would  not  any  general  just  like  to  know, 
through  some  traitor  straight  out  from  the  councils  of  the 
headquarters  of  the  enemy,  that  the  enemy  were  dying 
with  fear,  and  that  at  the  first  blow  their  joints  would  be 
loosened,  and  that  they  would  turn  and  fly?  That  is 
precisely  the  strategical  value  of  what  Joshua  got  through 
the  testimony  of  Eahab  to  the  two  spies.  My  dear  friends, 
have  you  ever  been  worth  a  hundredth  part  of  that  to  the 
heavenly  Joshua,  for  all  your  decency?  Oh,  this  is  no 
ordinary  person ;  this  is  no  ordinary  individual.  And 
see  the  great  space  that  God  gives  to  her  in  that  Book 


"  BY  FAITH  EAHAB  THE  HARLOT  PERISHED  NOT."   371 

of  His.  While  He  dismisses  other  great  and  mighty 
people,  and  just  barely  manages  to  say,  "  and  he  died,"  He 
tells  you  a  great  lot  about  Rahab,  and  winds  up  by  saying 
that  she  is  not  dead,  for  if  you  turn  to  the  sixth  chapter 
you  will  find  this,  "  She  dwelleth  in  Israel  unto  this  day." 
And  so  she  does — a  big  sinner  saved  by  grace.  That 
generation  has  never  ceased. 

"  We  have  heard  how  the  Lord  dried  up  the  water  of  the 
Red  Sea  for  you,  when  ye  came  out  of  Egypt;  and  what  ye 
did  unto  the  two  kings  of  the  Amorites,  that  were  on 
the  other  side  Jordan,  Sihon  and  Og,  whom  ye  utterly 
destroyed.  And  as  soon  as  we  had  heard  these  things,  our 
hearts  did  melt,  neither  did  there  remain  any  more  courage 
in  any  man,  because  of  you :  for  the  Lord  your  God,  He  is 
in  heaven  above,  and  in  earth  beneath."  I  think,  dear 
friends,  that  testimony  stands  yet.  We,  who  are  fight- 
ing Joshua's  battle  to-day,  should  take  to  heart  this  word 
that  has  leaked  out  from  the  headquarters  of  the  devil's 
army;  and  the  word  is  this,  that  with  all  the  devil's 
swagger,  and  bravado,  and  bluster,  he  is  a  bigger 
coward  than  we  are,  and  that  is  big  enough.  He 
is  really  not  so  bold  as  he  is  trying  to  pretend.  He 
knows  that  the  doom  is  coming,  and  Rahab  is  the  testifier ; 
and  she  ought  to  know ;  she  has  been  near  him  and 
is  intimate  with  the  latest  information  on  that  side.  I 
say,  I  think  that  we  should  all  take  this.  It  stands  here. 
This  is  a  bit  of  the  Word  of  God  that  *'  liveth  and  abideth 
for  ever."  And  its  great  value  to  you  and  me  who  are 
fighting  to-day  in  the  wars  of  the  Lord  under  the  heavenly 


372     "BY   FAITH   BAHAB   THE    HAELOT   PERISHED   NOT." 

Joshua  is  that,  all  appearances  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing, the  fear  of  us  and  the  terror  of  us  are  working 
yonder  before  we  arrive.  God  is  making  a  way  for  Hia 
conquering  purpose  before  we  thunder  at  the  enemy's  gate. 
Therefore  let  us  nerve  ourselves.  Therefore  let  us  be  strong. 
Therefore  do  not  let  us  be  daunted  by  the  colossal  and  seem- 
ingly impregnable  powers  of  evil.  There  is  a  trembling  and 
a  quivering  in  the  devil's  host.  "  Your  terror  is  fallen  upon 
us."  Who  would  think  it,  to  read  the  secular  press  ?  What 
nonsense  clever  men  talk  about  religion,  as  if  it  were  a 
feeble  kind  of  thing,  such  as  they  would  call  in  Scotland 
"  a  fozy  turnip  " — a  half-rotten,  effete,  useless  thing.  "  We 
are  going  to  have  reforms,  and  we  are  going  to  make  things 
a  great  deal  better,  but  we  will  have  no  religion."  Did 
ever  anybody  hear  such  addle-headed  talking  by  clever 
men?  No  religion?  Oh,  indeed!  You  are  going  to  bow 
out  Jesus  Christ  You  ought  to  have  been  born  a  long 
while  before  you  were,  if  you  are  going  to  do  that.  You 
have  come  into  the  world  much  too  late,  my  friend,  to  put 
it  right  without  Christ.  He  is  here,  and  He  means  to  be 
here,  and  I  trust  we  are  all  with  Him. 

Oh,  what  encouragement  there  comes  to  us  out 
of  this !  What  encouragement — that  the  kingdom  of 
darkness  in  all  its  domain  is  tottering  to  its  fall,  and 
it  knows  it !  The  very  devils  said  when  they  met  Jesus, 
"  Art  Thou  come  to  torment  us  before  the  time?  We  know 
that  the  time  is  coming ;  we  know  that  we  are  let  out 
to  do  mischief;  but  we  know  that  we  are  on  a  chain. 
Have  you  come  to  pull  us  in  before  the  time  i  "     Strange 


"  BY  FAITH  EAHAB  THE  HAELOT  PERISHED  NOT."   373 

it  is  that  we  who  are  serving  under  the  heavenly  Joshua, 
and  have  all  these  things  to  fortify  us  and  to  infuse  strength 
into  us,  are  so  nervous  and  womanish.  Oh,  to  be  strong  in 
the  Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  His  might,  and  to  be 
strengthened  by  what  we  read  here  as  to  the  condition 
of  things  in  the  enemy's  camp !  They  are  just  about  to 
surrender  if  we  would  put  on  a  bold  front. 

And  I  believe  that  it  is  often  so  about  some  poor  sinner 
just  like  Eahab.  I  was  near  to  that  on  Sunday  night.  I 
am  back  to  it  again;  and  it  is  not  I  who  am  repeating  myself. 
It  is  the  Bible  that  repeats  itself,  and  yet  with  infinite  fresh- 
ness in  the  monotone.  There  is  somebody  here,  or  somebody 
known  to  you,  about  whose  conversion  you  are  despairing. 
The  devil  seems  to  be  deeper  into  that  person  just  now  than 
ever.  It  is  simply  because  he  knows  that  his  time  is  short. 
Be  up  and  active  for  the  conversion  of  that  soul,  and  more 
diligent  than  ever  you  were  before.  Do  not  be  put  off  with 
appearances.  Even  while  he  or  she  seems  to  be  drinking 
down  iniquity  like  water,  there  are  twitches  and  tremors 
working  in  their  soul  about  the  God  of  heaven,  and  about 
things  that  they  have  heard  even  in  the  midst  of  their  riot 
and  sin.  They  have  had  an  ear  for  other  things.  And,  oh, 
the  things  that  were  told  them  long  ago,  in  brighter  days, 
at  their  mother's  knee,  and  by  their  father,  and  by  their 
Sunday-school  teacher,  out  of  the  Bible,  as  to  the  God  of 
heaven  and  His  grace — all  these  things  are  just  now  in 
their  soul  in  activity  and  power.  They  are  in  a  crisis,  like 
Eahab,  and  if  you  went  in  you  would  win. 

**  Now   therefore,  I  pray  you,  swear   unto  me  by  the 


374  "  BY  FAITH  RAHAB  THE  HARLOT  PERISHED  NOT.*' 

Lord."  Is  that  a  bad  woman?  "Now  therefore  swear 
unto  me  by  the  Lord,  since  I  have  showed  you  kindness, 
that  ye  will  also  show  kindness  unto  my  father's  house." 
Is  that  a  bad  woman?  It  is  not  selfishly  for  herself. 
"  Swear  that  ye  will  show  kindness  unto  my  father's  house, 
and  that  ye  will  save  alive  my  father  and  my  mother."  I 
tell  you,  that  prodigal  of  yours,  who  is  out  just  now  in  the 
far  country — you  were  right,  good  mother,  although  just  now 
your  hope  seemed  to  be  belied — he  is  the  flower  of  the  flock, 
and  through  God's  grace,  I  trust,  it  will  be  seen  yet.  He 
is  the  best  of  them.  He  is  the  biggest-hearted  and  the 
warmest-hearted,  and  that  is  where  the  devil  got  a  grip  of 
him  and  led  him  away.  But  the  Lord's  turn  will  come,  and 
it  will  be  seen  that  he  was  the  best  of  them.  That  other 
son  that  you  have  got,  the  elder  brother,  is  a  poor  creature. 
As  the  Americans  say,  "  I  do  not  take  much  stock  in  him." 
He  is  correct,  of  course,  like  "the  elder  brother."  "Lo^ 
these  years  do  I  serve  thee,  and  I  never  transgressed  thy 
commandment,  and  thou  never  gavest  me  a  kid  that  I 
might  make  merry  with  my  friends."  "I"  and  "my," 
"  me  "  and  "  mine."  He  is  swallowed  up  in  himself;  he  is 
away  from  home  even  when  at  home. 

Look  at  this  woman,  and  see  how  the  fountains  of  the 
great  deep  are  being  broken  up  within  her.  "  Swear  to  me 
by  the  Lord  that  ye  will  save  alive  my  father :  I  have 
been  a  heart-break  to  him.  And  that  you  will  save  my 
mother :  I  have  been  her  shame.  Swear  to  me  that  you 
will  save  my  father  and  my  mother,  and  my  brothers  and 
my  sisters,  although,  it  may  be,  that  for  many  a  day  they 


"  BY  FAITH  RAHAB  THE  HARLOT  PERISHED  NOT."   375 

have  turned  their  backs  on  me  and  are  ashamed  to  mention 
me.  And  save  all  that  they  have,  and  deliver  our  lives 
from  death." 

Now,  I  am  not  saying  a  word  in  favour  of  the  woman's 
badness — not  one  word.  My  conscience  is  clear  there. 
But  here  is  what  I  am  saying :  You  and  I  profess  to  be 
much  different  from  this.  Was  there  ever  a  day  or  an  hour 
when  some  of  us  here  went  in  before  the  God  of  heaven  with 
prayers  and  protestations  like  this :  "  O  God,  save  my 
father  and  my  mother,  [and  my  brethren,  and  my  sisters. 
Save  the  household  alive.  Son  of  God,  swear  to  me  now  by 
Thyself  that  Thou  art  going  to  save  me,  and  that  Thou  wilt 
not  let  a  hoof  be  left  behind,  but  that  Thou  wilt  save  us 
all "  ?  It  is  not  easy  to  get  upsides  with  this  woman. 
"  Rahab,  the  harlot  ?  "  Never  !  She  is  a  lady.  She  is  an 
"  elect  lady,"  as  John  would  say.  "  Likewise  also  was  not 
Rahab  the  harlot  justified  by  her  works,  when  she  had 
received  the  messengers  and  had  sent  them  out  another 
way?  "  Even  there  the  Bible  is  giving  her  no  certificate. 
It  is  not  trying  to  make  white  that  which  is  black. 
There  was  a  great  mixture  in  her  character  of  what  was 
impure,  but  there  was  a  something  in  it  that  redeemed  it,  and 
that  something  was  her  faith  in  the  God  of  heaven.  I  am 
not  saying  that  her  faith  worked  by  love  ;  I  am  saying  that 
her  faith  worked  by  fear.  It  was  not  the  best  kind,  it  was 
not  perfect ;  but  it  was  faith,  it  was  the  beginnings  of  faith. 
It  worked  by  fear,  but  by-and-bye  it  would  become  love,  and 
would  purify  her  heart  and  overcome  the  world.  So  you 
see    that  she  was  saved.     She  was  saved  on   God's  own, 


376   "  BY  FAITH  EAHAB  THE  HARLOT  PERISHED  NOT." 

God's  only  plan.  He  has  no  other  way.  Either  by  fear  or 
by  love  He  awakens  up  in  us  the  kind  of  thing  that  throbs 
and  trembles  away  up  with  confidence  to  the  holy  God,  and 
lays  hold  of  Him,  and  just  hangs  there  and  says,  **  This  is 
my  only  hope.  I  am  a  poor  sinner,  and  nothing  at  all ;  but 
God  as  given  me  a  token :  God  has  passed  His  Word.  I 
will  hang  on  to  that  for  myself,  and  for  all  whom  I  call 
friend."  Have  we  received  "  God's  spies "  with  peace. 
That  is  faith.  Have  we  so  received  them  that  we  repent  of 
.our  past  life,  tremble  to  think  how  near  we  were  to  doom, 
and  earnestly  seek  to  save  others,  and  further  the  Kingdom  ? 
Then  we  may  meet  with  Bahab,  our  fellow-sinner,  some 
day. 

May  God  bless  to  us  the  preaching  of  His  Word. 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  Marylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


ilegent  §qanxt  fnlpt 


DIRECT  DEALING  WITH  GOD  IN  PEAYEE. 


%  Sermon 

Preached  in  Regent  Square  Church, 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


"  Be  careful  for  nothing  ;  but  in  every  thing  by  prayer  and  supplication 
with  thanksgiving  let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God.  And  the 
peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  understanding,  shall  keep  your  hearts  and 
minds  through  (or  'in')  Christ  Jesus." — Phil.  iv.  6,  7. 

The  Apostle,  in  the  words  of  our  text,  seems  to  speak 
exaggeratingly,  carelessly,  almost  harshly,  when  he  says, 
"  Be  careful  for  nothing."  But  he  quickly  unfolds  his 
reason  for  that  seeming  off-hand  dealing  with  what  is 
to  us  such  a  real,  such  a  clinging  experience  :  trouble 
and  anxiety.  "  Ah  !  "  he  says  virtually,  "  I  was  not  harsh. 
I  was  not  off-hand.  Hear  me  out  to  the  end.  Do  not 
interrupt  my  speech  in  the  middle.  Hear  all  that  I  have 
got  to  say.     Be  full  of  care  for  nothing,  but  in  every  thing  by 

[As  this  is  Synod  week,  I  am  obliged  to  break  the  regular  issue  of  tlie 
Sabbath  morning  discourse.  The  present  sermon  is  the  continuation  of 
that  on  the  same  text,  entitled  "The  Cure  for  Care"  (Vol.  II.— No.  23). 
It  is  a  very  simple  and  also  very  inadetiuate  treatment  of  a  most  pressing 
and  practical  matter.  But  may  it  do  thee  good,  my  dear  reader  ;  and  be 
passed  on  to  some  troubled  neighbour  by  thee,  who  greatly  needs  a  hearty 
^^]MX  tecum  "  from  God  and  the  Preacher.] 

Vol.  III.— No.  25. 


378  DIRECT   DEALING  WITH   GOD   IN   PRAYEE. 

prayer  and  supplication  make  your  requests  known  unto 
God." 

I  should  like  to  begin  there.  He  says,  "  Let  your  requests 
be  made  known  unto  God."  This  injunction  is  well  worthy 
of  our  emphasis.  Tell  God.  "  The  disciples,"  we  are  told, 
on  one  occasion,  "  went  and  told  Jesus."  And  always  when 
we  think  of  the  subject  of  prayer  in  its  practical  aspect,  that 
word  comes  into  our  minds — "Go  and  tell  Jesus."  And 
when  you  are  praying  to  God,  remember  that  God  is  in 
Christ,  and  Christ  is  in  God,  and  do  not  be  stilted,  do  not 
be  stiff,  do  not  use  falsetto  language,  but  pray  freely,  openly, 
pointedly,  naturally,  to  your  Heavenly  Father  about  every- 
thing. "  Let  your  requests  be  made  known."  Ah !  how 
many  of  us  tell  God  ?  The  word  in  Greek  for  making  known 
our  requests  is  the  very  same  word  that  is  used,  when  we 
read  in  the  twenty-third  chapter  of  Luke's  Gospel  that 
Pilate  gave  sentence  that  it  should  be  done  according  as  the 
chief  priests  and  the  great  mob  and  rabble  "requested." 
Well,  that  was  Jiot  very  polite  "  requesting,"  was  it  ?  Look 
at  how  they  requested,  how  they  asked,  how. they  "  let  it  be 
known"  to  Pilate  what  they  wanted  done.  You  read,  in  a 
verse  or  two  before,  that  they  shouted.  "  They  cried  with  a 
a  loud  voice,  Crucify  Him!  Crucify  Him!  Away  with 
Him!  Not  this  fellow,  but  Barabbas!"  But  to  me  it  is 
very,  very  wonderful  that  just  that  same  idea  is  lying 
here  in  this  expression,  "Let  your  requests  be  made 
known  unto  God."  The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  friends, 
we  barely  yet  begin  to  understand  how  we  can  pray 
to    God.      I    find    such    texts    as    these,   "Ask  and    ye 


DIRECT   DEALING    WITH    GOD    IN    PRAYER.  379 

shall  receive  "  ;  "  Seek  and  ye  shall  find  "  ;  "  Let  your  re- 
quests be  made  known  unto  God,"  and  then  when  I  go  to 
religious  literaturq,  I  find  that  these  texts  are  watered  down 
and  divided  into  ever  so  many  subdivisions.  "  Ask  with 
resignation  to  the  Divine  will  "  ;  "  And  your  petitioners  will 
ever  pray  " ;  "  The  humble  petition  of  so-and-so  showeth, 
that,  whereas,"  &c.  I  am  afraid  that  we  have  got  that  idea 
in  our  minds.  Now,  that  is  not  praying.  Come  to  God. 
There  is  no  person  in  this  world  with  whom  you  are  safer 
than  when  you  are  on  your  knees  telling  God,  it  may  be 
hotly,  it  may  be  with  temper,  it  may  be  with  passion.  I 
want  to  tear  away  all  the  falsity  that  has  gathered  round 
this  idea  of  God,  especially  with  His  child.  His  erring,  but 
humbled,  blood-bought,  trusting  child.  Go  straight  in 
upon  Him.  You  cannot  take  Him  by  surprise,  and  you 
cannot,  when  it  comes  to  the  point,  be  too  free  with  Him. 
"Let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God."  What 
do  you  want  ?  Tell  Him.  You  are  not  allowed  to  go  down 
town  there  into  a  bank  and  loaf  and  loiter  about  the  place, 
and  come  to  the  counter  and  go  back  again  from  the 
counter.  You  would  be  hustled  out.  It  is  supposed 
that  if  you  come,  you  come  for  some  transaction  across  the 
counter,  either  to  put  in  something  or  to  take  out 
something.  When  we  come  to  God,  let  us  be  as  direct 
at  least  as  in  our  business  transactions.  Prayer  always 
means  business,  and  over  the  door  that  lets  you  into  the 
place  of  prayer  God  always  has  this  inscription  written  to 
guide  us,  and  to  warn  us,  and  to  put  us  on  our  mettle  :  "  No 
admittance  except  on  business."     Do  not  come  to  palaver 


380  DIEECT    DEALING    WITH   GOD   IN   PKAYER. 

about  this,  and  that,  and  the  other.  If  I  am  to  obey  rules 
and  rubrics,  I  will  not  ask  very  much.  When  we  went  to 
ask  things  of  our  father  and  our  mother  long  ago,  did  we 
stop  to  ask  ourselves  greatly  if  it  was  in  accordance  with 
their  will  ?  We  went  and  found  that  out  hy-and-hye.  We 
went  and  asked ;  we  took  good  care  that  we  let  them  know 
lohat  we  tcanted.  I  speak  openly;  I  speak,  if  you  like, 
unguardedly ;  but  what  I  am  driving  at  is  this — understand 
to  whom  you  are  speaking,  and  let  your  requests  be  made 
known.  God  will  not  fly  in  your  face  if  you  should  put  the 
thing  very  urgently  and  very  unguardedly.  If  you  are  hot 
about  it,  let  Him  see  that  you  are  hot.  Maybe  you  should 
not  get  it.  If  you  should  not,  you  will  not.  Do  not  go  to 
Him  as  if  you  were  drawing  up  a  petition  to  the  Queen. 
You  would  put  that  into  a  lawyer's  hands,  very  likely,  and 
you  would  take  out  all  your  hotness,  all  your  emphasis, 
and  express  yourself  in  all  manner  of  careful,  guarded, 
respectful,  periphrastic,  round-about  speech.  Do  not  pray 
in  that  way.  For  Heaven's  sake  don't !  God  does  not  care 
one  bit  for  you  to  come  to  Him  as  a  deputation  and  recite 
long  texts  of  Scripture.  That  is  nothing  to  Him.  "  Let 
your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God."  Everything 
that  troubles  you,  tell  Him.  Ask  Him  for  meat  or  meal  or 
money,  fish  or  flesh  or  good  red-herring.  Tell  Him  what 
you  would  rather  have.  Tell  Him  your  prayer;  but  for 
any  sake  understand  that  He  is  your  Father,  that  the 
commissariat  department  is  altogether  in  His  hands  as 
well  as  the  grace  department,  that  all  things  are  in  His 
hands,  and  without  Him  ye  can        nothing.     And  that  is 


DIRECT   DEALING   WITH    GOD    IN    PRAYER.  381 

why  the  Scripture  is  always  telling  us,  in  every  way,  to 
pray  to  God. 

The  7th  verse  gives  us  the  result,  if  we  deal  so  with  God. 
If  we  make  prayer  our  sheet  anchor,  if  we  make  it  the  very 
secret  of  our  life,  the  very  nerve  of  our  strength,  this  is 
what  will  happen  :  God  may  not  rain  down  upon  us  straight 
out  of  heaven  the  things  that  we  want,  either  temporal  or 
spiritual ;  but  this  is  what  He  will  do,  and  it  is  far  better. 
Let  God  know,  just  hot  and  quick  and  straight,  and  to  the 
point.  Do  not  burden  yourself— now,  I  say  it  deliberately 
and  advisedly — do  not  burden  yourself,  and  check  yourself, 
and  throttle  yourself  by  saying,  "  I  wonder  if  this  is  so-and- 
so,  and  so-and-so,  and  so-and-so."  You  will  find  all  this  out 
on  your  knees.  You  will  find  out  if  the  thing  is  really  a 
thing  that  should  be  granted.  Pray  about  it,  and  if  it  is 
not  for  you,  you  will  wonder  how  you  can  ask  for  it 
whe7i  you  hear  yourself.  When  you  go  to  God  to  ask  for  it, 
the  blush  of  shame  will  come  across  your  face,  and  you  will 
say,  "  No  ;  I  do  not  want  it."  You  think  that  you  are  in 
trouble,  but  when  you  begin  to  pray  to  God  about  it  you 
will  say,  "  But  it  is  no  trouble  at  all."  It  was  only  a  made- 
up  trouble.  You  will  find  all  these  things,  the  balance 
and  proportion  of  them  as  regards  the  Divine  will,  and  so 
on,  on  your  knees  far  quicker  and  better  than  by  staying 
back.  You  will  see  how  your  prayers  may  speed  if  you 
present  them. 

Then  here  is  a  blessing  that  will  come  of  this — "  the 
peace  of  God."  Go  to  God  with  everything  that  troubles 
you,  my  believing  brother  or  sister.     He  does  not  say  that 


382  DIRECT   DEALING   WITH   GOD   IN   PRAYER. 

He  will  give  you  that  specific  thing  that  you  ask,  but  He 
says  that  He  will  give  you  far  more.  You  are  greatly 
needing  to-morrow — shall  I  say  £10  ? — and  you  have  not  got 
it.  To  be  pointed,  you  go  to  God  and  ask  Him  for  that 
£10.  Will  it  come  fluttering  into  your  hand?  Will  it 
come  to-night  or  to-morrow?  I  do  not  know,  but  a  far 
better  thing  will  come.  You  are  entitled  to  rise  from 
your  knees  in  a  state  of  mind  as  peaceful  about  that  £10  as 
God  Almighty  is,  having  the  peace  of  God  in  your  heart 
about  it.  I  think  that  is  better  than  all  money.  You 
go  and  ask  God  for  the  health  of  your  sick  child.  I 
do  not  say  that  you  will  get  it,  but  you  will  get 
the  peace  of  God  right  off.  You  go  and  ask  God  to 
guide  you  in  that  business  project  of  yours.  I  do  not  say 
that  He  will  speak  straight  down  from  heaven  and  say, 
"  Go  into  this  plan,"  or,  "  Do  not  go  into  that  other  plan" ; 
but  if  you  pray  with  supplication  and  thanksgiving.  He  will 
give  you  His  own  peace ;  I  had  almost  said,  to  make  it 
vivid,  His  own  easy-mindedness  about  that  thing.  Oh,  it  is 
amazing !  It  is  far  better  than  getting  the  actual  material 
thing,  to  get  God's  state  of  mind  about  it.  To  rise  from 
your  knees  saying,  "  Well,  everything  is  just  as  it  was.  I 
have  not  got  that  thing  that  I  asked.  My  child  is  not 
better,  and  all  things  are  just  as  they  were,  but  yet  there 
is  a  big  difference.  I  was  corroding,  and  wasting,  and  fret- 
ting, and  fevered,  and  full  of  nerves,  and  now  my  mind  is 
calm  and  quiet.  I  am  amazed  at  myself.  My  child  may 
get  better,  or  my  child  may  die,  but  I  have  got  the  peace  of 
God.    That  money  may  come,  or  that  money  may  not  come 


DIRECT   DEALING   WITH   GOD   IN   PRAYER.  383 

to-morrow,  but  I  have  got  the  peace  of  God.  That  step  that 
I  propose  to  take  may  prosper,  or  it  may  not  prosper.  I 
am  not  concerned.     I  have  got  the  peace  of  God." 

Now,  that,  to  me,  is  the  drift  and  teaching  of  the 
whole  Bible  as  to  the  worth  and  value  of  prayer.  You 
get  far  more  than  you  ask  in  this  business  of  praying. 
It  is  not  like  a  lottery,  or  if  it  is,  it  is  all  prizes  and 
no  blanks ;  and  this  is  the  great  prize :  you  get  God's 
wisdom,  God's  love,  God's  power,  about  your  concerns. 
Therefore  you  look  at  them  from  the  point  of  view  of  God's 
throne.  You  look  at  them  through  God's  eyes,  and  you 
share  God's  own  untroubled  peace.  It  is  what  Christ 
said  when  He  was  leaving  His  disciples  here.  He  said, 
"  I  am  going  away  from  you,  and  I  have  a  secret,  that  will 
show  you,  as  it  showed  Me,  wonderful  rainbows  in  the  rain. 
You  shall  see  the  bow  of  hope  spanning  all  the  black 
clouds."  Just  as  He  was  leaving,  He  took  it  out  of  His  own 
heart  and  gave  to  them  this  word,  "  My  peace  I  leave  with 
you.  My  peace  I  give  unto  you.  Let  not  your  heart  be 
troubled  any  more  than  Mine  was,  neither  let  it  be  afraid. 
This  is  what  kept  Me,"  He  virtually  said,  "  and  I  have  had 
a  few  troubles,  haven't  I?  Ever  since  the  beginning 
haven't  I  had  troubles — haven't  I  had  trials?  Haven't 
I  been  without  any  certain  place  to  lay  My  head — with 
no  guarantee  of  meat,  or  lodging,  or  friends?  See  the 
life  that  I  have  had,  and  all  the  time  that  is  what  kept 
Me.  I  have  had  the  peace  of  God  that  passeth  all  under- 
standing, for  I  made  prayer  to  My  Heavenly  Father, 
My  very  strength."     And  it  was   no  feeble  praying.     It 


384  DIEECT   DEALING   WITH   GOD    IN   PBAYER. 

was  with  supplications,  with  strong  crying,  and  tears  on 
occasions.  Therefore  He  was  so  calm  and  so  strong,  en- 
joying central  peace  when  in  the  very  heart  of  endless 
agitation.  It  is  easy  to  preach  about.  The  grand  thing 
is  to  get  a  hold  of  it,  to  get  into  the  secret  place  of  God 
with  your  trouble,  to  spread  it  out  there,  and  to  know 
and  to  believe  that  God  has  pledged  Himself.  Oh,  wonder 
of  wonders  I  He  has  pledged  Himself.  "  I  will  guide  you. 
I  will  help  you.  I  will  go  bail  for  you  at  board  and  bed 
and  lodging,  and  every  breath  you  draw ;  I  count  the  hairs 
of  your  head,  and  your  children,  and  everything  about  you. 
I  have  redeemed  you.  I  have  spoken.  Trust  Me.  Be  at 
peace."  "  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind 
is  stayed  on  Thee,  because  he  trusteth  in  Thee."  It  is  an 
argument  in  a  circle,  but  you  cannot  help  it.  It  is  like  a 
serpent  with  its  tail  in  its  mouth.  It  begins  with  God  and 
ends  with  God.  It  begins  in  peace  and  ends  in  peace.  It 
begins  at  faith  and  ends  with  faith.  Will  you  trust  Him  ? 
That  is  the  cure  for  care.  That  is  the  secret  of  the  blessed 
life.  Some  people  enjoy  it.  Why  do  not  we  all  ?  I  do  not 
say  that  we  can  do  it  perfectly,  but  I  do  say  that  we  might 
be  perfecting  ourselves  in  this  path  of  peace  as  a  growing 
experience  every  day  we  live. 

' '  There  are  in  this  loud  stunning  side 
Of  London's  care  and  crime, 

With  whom  the  melodies  abide  of  the  everlasting  chime, 
Who  carry  music  in  their  heart, 
Through  dusty  lane  and  wrangling  mart, 
Plying  their  daily  task  with  busier  feet 
Because  their  secret  souls  some  holy  strain  repeat" 


DIKECT    DEALING   WITH    GOD    IN    PRAYEE.  3S5 

Oh,  could  we  kneel  and  cast  our  load,  even  while  we  pray, 
upon  our  God,  how  we  would  rise  with  lightened  faces  and 
lightened  hearts,  for  the  peace  of  God  that  passes  all  under- 
standing would  have  come  in !  Now,  that  is  the  great 
immediate  blessing,  that  keeps  you  from  torturing  yourself 
and  saying,  "  Well,  but  was  I  heard  ?  "  "  Well,  but  will  I 
get  it  ?"  Why,  you  have  got  far  more  than  that.  You  have 
got  God  and  Christ,  the  exceeding  great  and  precious 
promises.  Then  look  to  Him.  Do  not  look  to  this  and  that 
and  the  other  thing,  but  look  straight  to  God,  and  keep 
looking  at  Him.  Praying,  supplicating,  giving  thanks,  and 
keeping  the  mind  steadily  fixed  on  Him.  Calmness  sits 
throned  on  yon  untroubled  brow,  and  it  may  sit  here  also. 
It  is  Hke  the  disciples.  When  Christ  was  in  the  boat,  and 
the  storm  was  raging  all  around,  they  might  have  been  at 
peace.  Christ  was  enjoying  the  peace  of  God.  They 
might  have  enjoyed  it,  too.  As  I  like  to  put  it,  they  might 
have  gathered  round  Him  in  the  stern  of  that  boat  and 
looked  at  His  tranquil  face,  the  very  reflection  and  image 
of  the  peace  of  God,  and  they  might  have  said,  "  Well,  let 
that  storm  burst,  and  let  it  blow  these  sails  into  ribbons, 
and  let  it  dash  this  water  over  our  faces ;  as  long  as  His 
face  is  untroubled  our  hearts  will  be  untroubled,  too. 

Time  enough  for  us  to  tear  our  hair  and  distract  ourselves 
when  He  jumps  up  and  says,  "Bale  the  boat — danger! 
We  are  going  to  the  bottom ! "  but  as  long  as  He  keeps  calm, 
and  lies  there  lapped  in  bliss,  our  hearts  will  sleep  as  soundly 
on  Jehovah's  breast,  by  faith,  as  His  own.  That  is  not 
exactly  how  they  did.     That  is  how  they  should  have  done. 


386  DIEECT   DEALING   WITH    GOD   IN   PRAYER. 

They  went  the  other  way  about.  Let  us  go  right  where 
they  went  wrong. 

**  The  peace  of  God."  Now,  look  to  Him.  Trust  Him. 
That  is  the  great  secret.  It  is  not  to  get  your  prayer 
answered  right  down  on  the  nail  in  ready  money ;  although, 
remember,  I  perfectly  believe  in  express  material  answer  to 
prayer.  You  want  to  get  that  peace.  It  is  what  Christ  said 
elsewhere  :  "  The  life,  my  dear  disciples,  is  more  than  meat, 
and  the  body  is  more  than  raiment,"  and  what  God  aims  at 
by  introducing  you  to  the  practice  and  privilege  of  prayer, 
is  to  keep  up  your  life.  Your  Ufe  is  not  pounds,  shillings, 
and  pence — the  having  or  the  wanting  of  them.  Your  life 
is  not  the  life  of  your  son,  or  daughter,  or  wife,  or  the  want 
of  it.  Your  life  is,  How  much  does  your  soul  trust  God  ? 
That  is  your  real  life,  and  it  is  more  than  meat,  and  more 
than  raiment,  and  more  than  life  or  death,  or  husband  or 
wife.  What  God  wants  is  to  keep  us  in  living  powerful  con- 
dition. You  need  the  peace  of  God  to  keep  yourself  up  to 
the  mark  in  spiritual  power  and  poise.  We  do  not  under- 
stand what  God  has  done  for  us  in  the  privilege  of  prayer. 

I  was  trying  to  talk  about  this  to  some  ragged  children 
once  in  a  meeting  in  Edinburgh.  I  was  talking  about 
trusting  God,  and  I  took,  of  course,  the  too  familiar 
illustration,  because  they  would  understand  it,  of  their 
mother  being  in  a  sad  state  of  worry,  for  the  rent-day 
was  coming  due  in  eight  or  ten  days.  There  was  no  money, 
and  no  prospect  of  being  able  to  earn  it,  and  I  was  saying, 
"  Children,  suppose  a  gentleman  came  in  and  said  to  your 
mother,  '  Now,    I  have  not  the  money,  but   look  to   me.* 


DIRECT   DEALING   WITH    GOD    IN    PRAYER.  387 

Would  that  mean,  boys  and  girls,  that  your  mother  was 
to  rise  and  never  let  that  man  go  out  of  her  sight,  but  keep 
looking  at  him,  childishly,  literally  looking,  looking  at 
him  whenever  he  went  out  at  the  door,  no  matter  where  he 
♦went  ?  "  And  of  course  they  said,  "  No."  "  Well,"  I  said, 
"what  does  that  looking  mean?"  A  lad  said,  in  Scotch, 
"It  means,  '  Dinna  be  feared,  mistress.  I  will  pay  it.' " 
That  was  a  good  answer;  that  is  what  it  means.  And  when 
I  go  to  God  to  plead  the  promises,  He  does  not  just  send  me 
straight  down  what  I  want ;  He  does  not  even  assure  me 
whether  He  will  answer  my  prayer  my  way  or  not,  but  He 
just  breathes  this  into  me,  "  Dinna  be  feared.  I  will  be  at 
hand ;  aye,  when  the  difficulty  comes,  I  will  be  there.  When 
the  bend  in  the  road  comes,  where  the  roads  divide,  dinna  be 
feared.  Walk  right  up  to  the  crossing.  I  will  be  there  with 
you.  Always  trust  Me.  Do  not  doubt  Me.  That  is  the 
death  of  your  life  ;  but  to  trust  Me  by  prayer,  and  supplica- 
tion, and  thanksgiving  is  to  have  the  peace  of  God."  The 
Apostle  says  it  with  the  chains  at  his  wrist,  and  the 
Roman  soldier  for  ever  standing  there  at  his  elbow.  How 
would  you  like  that  in  the  morning  when  you  rise,  and  all 
through  the  day,  and  at  night  when  you  lie  down — no 
privacy,  no  quietness,  no  aloneness,  but  for  ever  shadowed 
with  that  double  of  yourself,  a  Eoman  soldier,  who  hates 
you.  You  are  a  burden  to  him.  He  wishes  that  you  were 
dead,  or  put  out  of  his  sight  somehow  or  another.  And 
even  living  such  a  life  as  that,  this  Apostle  of  ours  said — I 
think  he  meant  to  say — I  think  the  undertone  is,  "I  know 
this  peace.      In  this  dungeon  with  that  soldier  beside  me, 


388  DIRECT    DEALING   WITH   GOD    IN    PEAYER. 

and  that  clanking  chain  on  my  wrist,  I  am  quiet.  I  never 
was  so  quiet.  I  never  so  felt  myself  able  to  resign  all 
things  into  God's  hand.  I  am  without  a  care.  I  am 
without  a  doubt.  I  would  not  exchange  places  with  kings 
on  their  thrones  or  lying  on  their  beds  of  down.  Peace 
has  flowed  into  me  like  a  great  brimming  tide  coming  in 
and  filling  up  all  the  pools  and  all  the  bay  for  miles  right 
and  left.  Look  at  it.  There  is  that  great  brimming  tide, 
and  all  the  rocks,  and  all  the  tangle,  and  all  the  seaweed, 
and  all  the  slime  that  were  there  when  the  tide  was  out, 
all  is  utterly  obliterated,  and  there  is  nothing  but  a  great, 
broad,  brimming,  delicious,  sparkling  sea.  So  the  peace  of 
God  comes  in,  and  the  more  I  trust  in  God  it  flows  in  and 
in  and  in  until,  at  last,  all  my  doubts,  and  fears,  and  cares 
are  lying  drowned  at  the  bottom.  The  peace  of  God,  a 
tide  from  the  great  waveless  depths  of  His  own  infinite 
peace  has  come  creeping  up  and  creeping  up  into  my  dry 
and  empty  heart  and  filled  it,  and  better  than  that, 
beyond  all  understanding.  Are  not  we  like  an  eagle 
living  in  a  hen-house?  We  might  be  living  this  life, 
and  what  are  we  doing  ?  Tearing  on,  fighting,  carrying 
our  own  burden,  and  yet  somehow  or  other  contriving 
to  believe  that  we  are  believing,  and  contriving  to  think 
that  we  are  praying,  and  going  down  upon  our  knees  and 
asking  God  for  peace,  and  then  coming  away  with  never  a 
wrinkle  smoothed,  the  brow  as  wrinkled  as  ever,  and  the 
crow's  feet  still  round  about  our  eyes,  and  our  backs  bowed 
and  bent,  and  our  sigh  as  deep  and  miserable  as  if  there  were 
no  God,  and  no  mercy-seat,  and  no  precious  blood,  and  no 


DIRECT    DEALING   WITH    GOD    IN    PKAYEK.  389 

promise  to  help  us  at  every  turn.  I  remember  a  man  once 
pointing  a  lake  out  to  me,  a  lake  that  lies  between  the 
mountains,  and  he  said,  "  The  remarkable  thing  about  that 
lake  is  this — that  nobody  has  ever  been  able  to  get  to  the 
bottom  of  it.  However  long  the  sounding  line,  the  lead  never 
gets  to  the  bottom.  Whether  it  is  owing  to  subterranean 
currents,  or  what  it  is,  I  know  not."  And  when  I  looked  at 
that  beautiful  lake  I  said,  "Would  God  my  heart  were  like 
that,  so  open  to  heaven  and  so  shut  in  among  the  eternal 
hills,  and  such  depths  in  it."  Passing  all  understanding 
is  God's  peace.  Mark  you,  it  is  not  peace  ivith  God, 
the  peace  of  reconciliation  when  our  sins  are  blotted 
out  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  Every  justified 
believer  has  that.  It  is  the  peace  of  God,  His  own  fathom- 
less peace  filling  your  cup  to  the  full. 

Then  it  is  said  about  it  here  that  it  keeps  the  heart  and 
the  mind,  and  the  word  for  keep  is  a  word  that  indicates  the 
garrisoning,  the  fortifying  of  a  citadel.  "  The  peace  of 
God !"  It  is  no  pithless  thing.  The  peace  of  God  is  more 
powerful  than  a  bannered  host  planted  round  about  you. 
Oh,  the  peace  of  God !  There  is  a  wall  in  it ;  there  is  a 
shout  in  it ;  there  is  a  defiance  in  it.  When  the  peace  of 
God  comes,  you  are  like  those  in  a  beleagured  city  who 
have  received  reinforcements.  They  were  just  going 
to  surrender;  they  had  surrendered.  The  invaders  had 
entered  the  streets,  and  were  just  coming  to  take  down 
the  flag  from  the  ramparts,  when  suddenly  the  reinforce- 
ments arrived,  drove  out  the  invaders,  manned  the 
walls,  filled  their  guns,  and  there  is  the  city  strong,  stout, 


390  DIRECT   DEALING   WITH    GOD    IN    PKaYER. 

impregnable.      So  with  the  heart  that  is  filled  with  the 
peace  of  God. 

Oh,  when  we  talk  of  peace,  men  are  apt  to  think  of 
something  feeble,  and  womanish,  and  feckless,  and  that  to 
have  this  peace  of  God  you  need  to  be  a  kind  of  thowless 
mortal  with  no  pith,  no  stamina  in  you,  a  backboneless 
jelly-fish  kind  of  creature !  Never.  The  peace  of  God  is 
what  that  Greek  word  says.  "  The  peace  of  God  shall 
fortify  your  heart  and  mind  through  Christ  Jesus."  Ask  a 
grizzly  old  soldier  what  peace  means,  and  as  he  recounts 
his  scars,  and  opens  his  breast  and  shows  his  wounds,  he 
says,  "  Peace  is  what  is  reached  through  these  wounds." 
And  that  is  our  peace.  It  may  come  simply  enough  to  us, 
but  it  was  dearly  bought.  "Peace  rides  on  battle's  car." 
The  end  of  all  wars  is  peace.  There  was  a  big  war  between 
Christ  and  the  devil,  and  the  Christ  of  God  won,  and  the 
devil  was  eternally  overwhelmed.  Enjoy  this  peace.  Drink 
it.  Eevel  in  the  abundance  of  peace.  Bid  "  good-bye  "  to 
slavish  fear  and  carking  care.  God's  angels,  legions  of 
them,  have  come  to  garrison  your  mind,  and  the  bright 
inscription  on  every  burning  brow  is  this:  **The  messengers 
of  the  peace  of  God."  May  we  know  that  as  the  mountains 
stand  round  about  Jerusalem,  so  the  Lord  encompasseth 
His  folk  from  henceforth  even  for  ever.  This  illustration 
has  been  used.  I  do  not  know  if  you  have  been  among  the 
Pacific  Islands.  If  so,  you  know  them  more  vividly  than 
I  can  describe  them.  There  are  those  coral  islands.  One 
feature  and  characteristic  about  them  is  this — that  round 
about  them  there  is  a  great  wall  of  coral  reef,  with  here 


DIRECT   DEALING    WITH    GOD    IN    PRAIEE.  391 

and  there,  where  streams  have  flowed  down  from  the 
island  out  to  the  sea,  gaps  and  openings.  One  remarkable 
thing  about  these  coral  walls  that  surround  the  islands  is 
the  tremendous  surf  that  is  always  beating  there.  Here  is 
a  vessel  coming  from  far  seas.  There  is  a  storm  coming. 
That  vessel  wants  a  shelter.  All  around  are  the  white 
waves  showing  their  white  teeth,  those  wolves  that  would 
like  to  get  the  ship,  and  break  her  back,  and  grind  her  to 
pieces  in  their  tremendous  jaws.  The  captain  sees  the 
surf  breaking  on  the  coral  reef.  He  knows  that  if  he 
can  just  get  into  one  of  these  little  gaps,  all  that  is  against 
him  will  be  for  him,  and  he  trims  the  sail  and  he  gete 
through  an  opening,  and  lo!  when  he  gets  in,  where  is  he? 
That  tremendous  sea  is  shut  out,  and  he  is  in  a  broad,  deep 
lagoon,  without  a  wave,  without  a  ripple.  Storms  may 
blow,  waves  may  dash,  but  he  is  inside  the  reef.  Now, 
what  the  Blood  of  Christ,  yea,  rather  the  whole  Priest- 
hood of  Christ,  has  done  for  me  is  this :  it  has  made  an 
opening  in  those  rocks  against  which  otherwise  I  had  been 
dashed  to  pieces.  God  had  been  my  destruction  ;  God  had 
been  my  terror  :  God  had  been  to  me,  when  I  came  near  to 
Him,  what  a  lee  shore  or  a  coral  reef  is  to  a  drifting  vessel 
— sure,  absolute  destruction.  But  Christ  has  opened  a 
way.  He  has  changed  the  whole  situation.  He  guides 
my  barque  in  behind  those  barriers  of  rock,  and  now 
that  very  thing  that  caused  my  fears  and  my  alarm 
becomes  my  strength  and  shield.  I  am  in  behind 
God's  justice,  in  behind  God's  faithfulness.  To  change  the 
figure,  I  have  got   behind   the   batteries  that  before  were 


392  DIRECT    DEALING    WITH    GOD    IN    PRAYER. 

there  to  sweep  the  road  clean  if  any  one  would  try  to  come 
near  to  God.  But  Christ  has  brought  me  behind  the  guns, 
inside  the  bay.  I  am  safe  within  the  shelter.  My  hearer, 
no  tongue  can  tell  the  peace  that  we  arc  entitled  to  enjoy 
when  we  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  cast  by  prayer  and 
supplication  with  thanksgiving  all  our  load  on  Him. 

**Take,  my  soul,  thy  full  salvation  ; 
Rise  o'er  sin  and  fear  and  care  ; 
Joy  to  find  in  every  station 
Something  still  to  do  or  bear. 

"Think  what  Spirit  dwells  within  you, 
What  a  Father's  smile  is  thine, 
What  a  Saviour  died  to  win  thee, 

Child  of  Heaven,  shouldst  thou  repiae? 

"Haste,  then,  on,  from  grace  to  glory, 
Armed  by  faith  and  winged  by  prayer, 
Heaven's  eternal  day's  before  thee  : 
God's  own  hand  shall  guide  thee  there. 

**  Soon  shall  close  thy  earthly  mission  ; 
Swift  shall  pass  thy  pilgrim's  days ; 
Hope  soon  change  to  glad  fruition, 
Faith  to  sight,  and  prayer  to  praise." 

Amen,  and  Amen. 


Hendbrson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  s,  Marj'lebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


Regent  (gqtiau  f  itlpit 


TWO  GRAND  OLD  MEN. 


%  Sermon 

Preached  in  Regent  Squaee  Church, 

BY  THE 

REV.  JOHN  MCNEILL. 


Joshua  xiii.  1  ;  xiv.  6-13. 

I  WANT  to  speak,  dear  friends,  briefly  about  these  two  men, 
Joshua  and  Caleb.  We  will  give  the  old  men  their  innings 
to-night.  These  were  two  old  men,  two  grand  old  men, 
undoubtedly.  Out  of  the  mouths  of  these  two  witnesses 
let  every  word  be  established — every  word  I  mean  of  Chris- 
tian promise,  of  Christian  faith,  and  of  Christian  hope  and 
hopefulness.  For  I  think,  and  I  suppose  that  most  of  you 
will  agree  with  me,  that  the  best  of  all  Christian  evidences 
is  a  well-kept  old  man— a  hale,  hearty,  flourishing  Chris- 
tian old  man.  I  cannot  find  any  better  testimony  to  the 
presence,  power,  and  purpose  of  the  great  God  who  made 
us  and  sent  us  into  this  world. 

First  of  all,  Joshua  will,  as  it  were,  come  into  the  witness- 
box  and  testify  to  us ;  and  then  we  will  hear  what  Caleb  has 
to  say.  And  though,  of  course,  I  am  speaking  of  old  men, 
I   am   not   speaking   altogether   directly  to   them.     I   am 

Vol.  III.— No.  26. 


394  TWO    GEAND    OLD    MEN. 

speaking  in  the  audience  of  you  all.  I  trust  that  the  aged 
will  be  encouraged  to  cleave  closely  to  the  Lord  their  God  ; 
and  I  trust  also  that  those  who  are  bearing  the  burden  and 
heat  of  the  day  will  encourage  themselves  in  God.  And  I 
hope  that,  particularly  the  young  men,  those  who  are  in 
life's  morning  march,  and  have  all  the  way  to  travel  yet, 
and  all  the  battle  to  fight,  will  be  encouraged  as  we  hear 
what  God  says  about  these  old  veterans,  and  what  they  say 
in  their  turn  about  God. 

Joshua  is  unlike  Caleb,  in  that,  you  notice,  he  is  not 
speaking  for  himself ;  and  Caleb  speaks  for  himself.  Joshua 
has  his  case  stated,  and  explained,  and  illustrated  by  the 
Lord.  Before  this,  he  had  made  the  great  decision.  I  am 
not  sure  whether  all  of  us  have  made  it.  Joshua  made  it. 
Long  years  before  this  he  decided  for  God,  for  truth,  for 
holiness.  He  turned  his  back  upon  the  ambitions  of  self, 
and  self-interast,  and  time,  and  gave  himself  over  to  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel  for  time  and  for  eternity. 

Well,  what  happens  in  the  end  ?  We  pass  over  all  that 
has  come  and  gone  in  the  years  between.  This  first  passage 
opens,  "  Now  Joshua  was  old  and  stricken  in  years ;  and 
the  Lord  said  unto  him.  Thou  art  old  and  stricken  in  years, 
and  there  remaineth  yet  very  much  land  to  be  possessed." 
Now,  my  aged  friend,  I  wish  you  would  take  the  comfort 
out  of  that.  God  speaks  to  you,  and  God  speaks /or  you  to- 
day,  in  your  advancing  years,  even  as  He  did  in  the  beginning, 
when  first  of  all,  by  His  grace.  He  called  you  to  Himself  to 
be  "  a  soldier  of  the  Cross,  a  follower  of  the  Lamb." 
"  You  are  getting  old,"  He  says,  "you  are  stricken  in  years." 


TWO   GRAND   OLD   MEN.  895 

It  is  as  if  He  came,  like  a  wise  physician,  and  felt  your 
pulse,  and  diagnosed  your  condition,  and  said  to  you,  "  Do 
not  fear;  do  not  fail ;  do  not  shrink.  I  know  that  the  grey 
hairs  have  come.  I  know  that  your  step  is  failing.  I  know 
that  your  eyes  are  waxing  dim.  I  know  that  your  powers  are 
beginning  to  get  feebler.  I  know  that  time  and  trouble,  and 
the  hurly-burly,  and  the  tear  and  wear  have  begun  to  tell 
on  you.  But  let  your  comfort  be  found  here — that  I  know 
it.  It  is  all  within  My  ken  ;  it  is  all  under  My  eye;  it  is  all 
within  My  gracious  hands.  I  knew  you  from  the  first.  I 
know  you  as  intimately  and  well  now  as  ever  I  did." 
**  Even  to  old  age  I  am  He,  and  to  grey  hairs  I  will  carry 
you ;  for  I  have  made,  and  I  will  bear ;  yea,  I  will  carry 
and  will  deliver  thee,  saith  the  Lord."  I  think  that  is  help- 
ful and  encouraging  for  those  who  find  themselves  far  along 
the  track— who  find  that  the  road  is  beginning  to  get 
lonely — who  find  that  they  are  more  at  home  in  the 
graveyard  now  than  among  the  busy  haunts  of  men. 
You  are  like  one  who  sits  up  far  into  the  night,  and  sees  the 
lights  in  the  neighbours'  houses  go  out  one  by  one.  The 
silence  and  the  darkness  deepen  all  around  you,  and  you 
are  sitting,  maybe,  sad  and  silent  and  lonely,  when  lo !  a 
voice  breaks  in.  It  is  God's  voice.  The  Lord  said  unto 
Joshua,  "  Joshua,  come  up  into  My  arms.  When  you  were 
strong  and  well  you  acted  the  part  of  a  strong,  stalwart,  and 
hardy  man.  You  lived  for  Me;  you  toiled  for  Me;  you 
moiled  for  Me  ;  you  fought  for  Me  years  on  end.  Do  you 
think  that  I  will  cast  you  off  now  ?  Hear  Me,  Joshua, 
never  was  I  nearer  than  now. 


395  TWO   GRAND   OLD   MEN. 

*  When  life  is  dull,  and  spirits  low, 
And  all  the  wheels  of  being  slow.' '' 

That  is  the  portion  of  you  old  people,  who  feel,  as  God  says 
here  about  Joshua,  that  time  has  told,  and  that  you  are 
being  pulled  down ;  that  you  are  not  just  the  man  you  once 
were.  You  cannot  say  what  Caleb  says.  It  seems  as  if 
Caleb  was  a  much  brighter  specimen.  We  will  turn  to 
him  by-and-bye.  He  said,  "I  defy  the  ravages  of  time." 
"  Time,"  says  Caleb,  "  makes  no  impression  on  me.  Forty- 
five  years  have  made  no  difference  to  me.  I  go  for  the 
Anakims  to-day.  I  want  to  be  at  them  as  heartily  as  if  it 
had  been  forty  years  before."  But  I  like  to  cherish  the 
idea  that  Joshua  is  not  just  one  of  those  miraculous  old 
men  who  never  seem  to  grow  old.  Joshua  was  "  old  and 
stricken  in  years."  Joshua  was  a  man  upon  whom  the 
care  and  wear  told.  Joshua  was  intense.  Joshua  felt 
chings — was  like  some  of  us,  a  bundle  of  keen,  quick  nerves 
and  sensibihties.  He  was  not  an  old  man,  if  we  reckon 
him  by  years,  as  old  men  went  then ;  but  he  was  aged  just 
like  you  ;  it  was  telling  upon  him.  And  here  is  a  blessing 
for  old  age  when  it  is  felt  to  be  somewhat  of  a  burden. 
When  one  has  lived  a  busy,  pell-mell,  active  live,  and  feels 
that  he  is  being  "  sent  to  the  rear,"  then  God  comes  in. 
In  the  time  of  age  and  sorrow,  His  light  is  seen  like  the 
moon  rising  over  the  harvest  field.     As  our  poet  says. 

"So  to  our  souls  the  Lord  of  love  and  might 

Sends  harvest  hours  Avhen  daylight  disappears. 

"When  age  and  sorrow,  like  the  coming  night. 
Darken  our  field  of  work  with  doubts  and  fears 

God  times  the  presence  of  His  heavenly  light, 
To  rise  up  softly  o'er  our  silver  hairs." 


TWO   GRAND   OLD   MEN.  397 

Did  not  the  Lord  speak  well,  Joshua?  Does  it  not 
encourage  your  fainting  heart,  my  aged  brother  or  sister, 
that  God  comes,  and,  speaking  above  you,  and  down  into 
you,  and  into  all  your  belongings  and  all  your  surroundings, 
says,  "  Joshua,  you  are  old,  and  the  years  have  told ;  you  are 
stricken  in  years  ;  but  I  am,  I  know  you,  I  understand  you 
altogether  "  ?  So  go  on,  friends ;  go  on,  you  intense  people. 
Some  of  us  will  not  live  nearly  so  long  as  Joshua.  We  are  get- 
ting old  very  quickly.  Let  us  go  on ;  do  not  spare  yourselves. 
Do  not  '*  hain "  yourselves,  as  they  say  in  Scotland. 
Do  not  stint  yourselves.  "  There  is  that  scattereth  and 
yet  increaseth  ;  and  there  is  that  withholdeth  more  than  is 
meet,  and  it  tendeth  to  poverty."  How  often,  when  we 
get  a  little  busy,  do  the  voices  of  friends  rise  in  our  ears : 
"Take  care,  you  know."  And  there  seems  to  be  a  good 
deal  of  wisdom  in  it.  "  Do  less,  that  you  may  do  more." 
I  do  not  know  how  often  I  have  heard  that.  Do  not  say 
that  to  me ;  I  have  prodigious  powers  of  "doing  less" 
without  being  in  the  least  degree  encouraged.  So  have 
most  of  us.  No,  no,  let  us  go  on  ;  let  us  "  stick  in  ";  let  us 
be  busy — busier  than  ever,  fiUing  and  rounding  out  our 
life  with  what  "  life  "  really  is.     Says  our  poet, 

"  We  live  in  deeds,  not  years  ;  in  thoughts,  not  breaths  ; 
In  feelings,  not  in  figures  on  a  dial." 

Life  is  not  to  be  measured  just  by  the  amount  of  its  years 
and  the  way  in  which  you  have  stood  them  physically. 
Life  is  to  be  measured  by  the  amount  of  faith,  and  prayer, 
and  eternity  that  have  been  crowded  into  its  course, 
whether  it  has  been  long  or  short. 


398  TWO   GEAND   OLD   MEN. 

"Joshufi.  was  old  and  stricken  in  years."  Is  it  not 
pleasing  to  notice  that  God  never  throws  a  man  aside 
because  he  is  old  ?  Joshua  was  not,  perhaps,  just  so  lusty 
with  the  sword  as  he  had  been ;  so  God  gives  him  a  new  bit 
of  work  now.  He  virtually  eays,  *'  Take  the  pen,  and  map 
out  the  land.  There  is  yet  very  much  land  to  be  possessed. 
Only  divide  thou  it  by  lot  unto  the  Israelites  for  an  inherit- 
ance as  I  have  commanded  thee.  Now  therefore  divide 
this  land  for  an  Inheritance."  According  to  our  years  and 
strength,  God  will  keep  us  busy.  There  is  no  discharge  in 
this  war.  "We  may  be  old  as  men,  but  God  would  like  us 
to  be  young,  and  green,  and  fresh  at  the  heart ;  and  we  shall 
be  so,  if  we  are  really  His,  and  trusting  in  Him.  Faith  in 
the  soul  is  an  evergreen. 

"  Those  that  within  the  house  of  God 
Are  planted  by  His  grace, 
They  shall  grow  up  and  flourish  all 
In  our  God's  holy  place ; 

"  And  in  old  age,  when  others  fade, 
They  fruit  still  forth  shall  bring. 
They  shall  be  fat  and  full  of  sap. 
And  aye  be  flourishing." 

So  was  Joshua,  and  so  may  all  of  us  be  who  in  our  early 
days  were  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  grace  of  Christ,  in 
the  house  of  God,  in  the  belief  of  His  Word,  and  in  the 
service  of  His  name.  God  will  not  cast  you  away.  He 
will  not  pay  you  off.  There  are  no  superannuates  in  God's 
ranks.  He  will  use  you  and  keep  you  as  busy  as  ever; 
although  you  may  have  to  come  in  off  the  field  of  battle, 
although  you  may  have  to  reduce  your  outward  activities, 


TWO   GRAND    OLD    MEN.  399 

although  you  may  have  to  He  upon  your  bed,  God  will  give 
you  divinely  suitable  work  in  your  quietly  closing  years. 

Do  not  imagine  that  God's  work  began  with  you,  and 
that  it  will  end  with  you.  That  is  a  bad  trick  that  some 
of  you  old  folks  have.  I  like  to  speak  a  little  firmly  to 
you.  You  sometimes  speak  to  us  younger  fellows  in  a 
way  that  discourages  us.  What  grand  battles  when  you 
were  young !  Life  was  worth  living  when  you  were  young, 
you  think ;  and  you  have  handed  over  to  us  the  mere  fag 
ends  of  existence.  Keep  them  to  yourselves,  if  it  has 
come  to  that.  The  Lord  holds  the  balances  between  those 
who  are  going  off  the  field  and  those  who  are  coming  on, 
for  He  dares  to  say,  "  Joshua,  Joshua,  it  has  nearly  all  to 
be  done  yet.  Joshua,  you  were  busy,  but  there  is  a  lot 
to  be  done — there  remaineth  very  much  land  to  be  pos- 


Shall  we  leave  Joshua  there,  for  our  time  must  be  briefer 
than  usual  to-night  ? 

We  will  listen  to  this  other  grand  old  man,  and  hear  his 
testimony.  In  the  one  case,  as  I  pointed  out,  God  spoke. 
In  this  case  Caleb  himself  speaks  (the  14th  chapter  at  the 
7th  verse) :  "  Forby  years  old  was  I  when  Moses  the  servant 
of  the  Lord  sent  me  from  Kadesh-Barnea  to  espy  out 
the  land ;  and  I  brought  him  word  again  as  it  was  in  mine 
heart.  Nevetheless  my  brethren  that  went  up  with  me 
made  the  heart  of  the  people  melt :  but  I  wholly  folknved 
the  Lord  my  God,  And  now,  behold,  the  Lord  hath  kept  me 
alive,  as  He  said,  these  forty  and  five  years,  even  since  the 
Lord  spake  this  word  unto  Moses,  while  the  children  of 


400  TWO   GRAND   OLD   MEN. 

Israel  wandered  in  the  wilderness  :  and  now,  lo,  I  am  this 
day  fourscore  and  five  years  old.  As  yet  I  am  as  strong 
this  day  as  I  was  in  the  day  that  Moses  sent  me :  as  my 
strength  was  then,  even  so  is  my  strength  now,  for  war, 
both  to  go  out,  and  to  come  in."  Well,  if  it  were  not  for 
a  saving  clause,  there  would  be  here  a  little  of  what  we  do 
not  like  in  old  men — a  little  tone  of  what  I  hinted  at  before — 
something  like  bragging.  We  meet  with  old  men  who  are 
continually  asking  us,  with  a  slight  twinkle  in  their  eye, 
"  How  old  do  you  think  I  am  ?  "  and  the  answer,  of  course, 
is  meant  to  bring  out  that  you  never  would  dream  that 
they  were  such  veterans  in  years,  they  are  so  fresh,  and 
sprightly,  and  springy.  That  is  an  evil  thing,  and  would 
have  been  evil  in  Caleb  but  for  this  saving  clause,  "  Behold, 
the  Lord  hath  kept  me  alive."  That  is  the  saving  clause, 
my  green  and  vigorous  aged  friend,  with  whom  all  things 
have  prospered.  See  to  it  that  boastfulness  be  not  found 
in  your  heart.  Let  not  that  "  dead  fly  "  spoil  your  ointment. 
Do  not  give  to  yourself  the  credit  and  glory  of  your  strength 
and  prowess  of  body,  and  brain,  and  mind.  Give  all  the 
glory  where  all  is  due. 

"  The  Lord  hath  kept  me  alive."  I  want  you  to  notice 
this  also  about  Caleb.  He  says,  "  I  have  wholly  followed 
the  Lord  my  God";  and  in  the  Hebrew  that  is  quite  a 
striking  word — more  striking  than  in  the  English.  It  is  a 
pictorial  word  in  the  Hebrew,  and  describes  a  ship  going  at 
full  sail.  Why,  that  is  the  very  key-note  of  Caleb  from 
beginning  to  end.  He  was  the  man  he  was,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end,  because  he  was  out  and  out— because 


TWO    GEAND    OLD    MEN.  401 

there  were  no  limitations  and  provisions  with  him.  He  was 
not  a  man  who,  as  Paul  would  say,  "  Made  provision  for 
the  flesh  to  fulfil  the  lust  thereof  ";  but  having  been  called 
by  God  to  His  service,  he  made  it  his  meat  and  his  drink. 
He  "went  in"  for  God  and  His  cause,  like  a  ship  in  full 
sail : 

"  A  wet  sheet  and  a  flowing  sea, 
And  a  wind  that  follows  fast, 
And  fills  the  white  and  rustling  sail, 
And  bends  the  gallant  mast." 

So  was  Caleb.  He  flung  every  power  of  body,  and  soul,  and 
spirit  like  a  free  sheet  to  the  winds  of  God's  grace,  and 
God's  Spirit,  and  God's  Providence.  He  "  let  go."  Young 
fellow,  it  is  the  ruin  of  you  that  you  are  holding  back.  You 
will  never  be  a  Caleb ;  you  will  never  be  a  Joshua ;  you 
will  never  be  a  David — never,  never — at  this  rate  of 
it;  hanging  back  and  saving  your  life,  and  therefore 
losing  it ;  taking  so  much  of  the  programme  because 
it  fits  you,  and  scoring  out  certain  other  items 
that  you  do  not  like.  Go  in  for  a  full  programme, 
if  you  would  enjoy  Christian  life.  I  do  believe  that  our 
old  men,  our  Calebs,  would  say  to  us  younger  men,  "  Now, 
if  you  would  enjoy  your  Christian  life,  and  if  you  would 
get  over  the  mud-banks,  where  many  another  gallant  bark 
has  stranded,  go  in  for  a  full  curriculum,  be  out  and  out, 
wholly  follow  the  Lord  your  God."  Let  your  whole  soul 
be  rooted  in  sincerity,  and  you  will  be  virtually  an  immortal, 
an  evergreen.  If  you  want  time  and  change  to  make  but 
little  impression  on  you,  be  out  and  out  for  God.  I 
believe   that   this  tells.       I    believe    that    our    insurance 


402  TWO   GRAND   OLD   MEN. 

societies  are  going  to  bring  it  out  more  and  more  clearly 
that  the  best  lives  for  the  purposes  of  an  insurance  ofiBce  are, 
not  simply  the  teetotal  lives  (and  I  am  thankful  I  am  one 
of  them,  and  I  hope  that  you  will  all  be  among  them^,  but 
the  godly  lives,  the  men  and  the  women  who  are  rooted 
early  in  grace,  and  who  early  set  themselves  with  all  their 
powers  to  fight  against  unrighteousness  within  them  and  in 
the  community  without  them.  Who  was  it  said,  not  long 
ago,  that  the  making  of  him  was  that  in  his  youth 
he  had  espoused  a  righteous  but  unpopular  cause? 
That  is  a  deep  and  sagacious  thing.  In  the  case 
of  Caleb  and  Joshua,  the  thing  that  made  them,  where 
others,  who  were  seemingly  as  good  men  as  they  were,  were 
marred  and  unmade,  was  this,  that  forty-five  years  before 
they  had  espoused  '*  a  righteous  but  unpopular  cause." 
They  believed  in  the  power  of  minorities  with  God  at  their 
back.  They  went  against  the  majority,  and  the  drift  and 
tendency  of  opinion  of  their  age.  You  remember  when  it 
came  about.  When  all  the  rest  of  the  spies  said,  "We 
cannot  do  it.  The  taking  of  these  great  cities  and  the 
conquering  of  these  giants  cannot  be  done,"  Caleb  and 
Joshua  dared  to  differ.  They  sent  in  a  "  minority  report," 
and  they  stuck  to  it,  and  God  Almighty  adopted  it ;  and 
although  it  took  forty-five  years  to  carry  it  out,  He  justified 
what  Caleb  and  Joshua  had  seen,  and  said,  and  purposed 
in  their  hearts. 

Now,  I  come  back  to  that  again,  for  you,  my  younger 
brethren  and  sisters  in  the  faith  of  Christ  Jesus  in  this 
great  London.     "  My  brethren  that  went  up  with  me  made 


TWO   GRAND    OLD    MEN.  403 

the  heart  of  the  people  to  melt :  but  I  wholly  followed 
the  Lord  my  God.  When  Moses  sent  me  to  espy  out  the 
land,  I  brought  word  as  it  was  in  my  heart."  There 
is  **  the  heart  of  valour,  the  tongue  of  truth."  He  was 
a  true  man  in  his  early  day.  In  a  critical  hour  he 
put  his  foot  on  the  neck  of  compromise,  and  shilly- 
shallying, and  lying.  Men  talk,  we  often  talk,  about  the 
dangers  of  a  young  fellow  in  London.  I  believe  that  the 
biggest  danger  is  not  drink,  not  secret  or  open  lusts  of  a 
carnal  and  fleshly  kind  ;  but,  before  that,  the  double  mind, 
the  unstable  heart,  the  treacherous,  slippery,  deceitful 
mind  and  disposition,  which  will  be  this  to-day  and  some- 
thing else  to  -  morrow ;  religious  to  -  day  and  "  Hail, 
fellow,  well  met,"  with  the  worldly  majority  to-morrow; 
the  mind  that  is  always  calculating  chances,  and  con- 
sidering how  many  are  on  this  side  and  how  many  are  on 
that  side.  "  I  would  fain  go  on  this  side,  but  there  are  few 
that  are  going  that  way  ;  therefore  I  will  go  with  the  multi- 
tude. I  like  to  keep  in  the  swim.  One  must  not  be  extreme." 
That  is  the  ruin  of  many  a  fellow.  That  is  where  you 
founder.  Then,  when  you  come  into  gambUng  circles,  and 
into  spendthrift  circles,  and  into  unclean  circles,  your 
foundations  are  undermined.  You  are  sucked  away  with 
these  subtle  but  tremendous  undercurrents  of  temptation 
that  beat,  beat,  beat  against  the  very  foundation-principles 
of  a  young  fellow's  heart ;  and  if  there  are  no  foundation- 
principles — if  there  are  only  the  shifting  sands  of  com- 
promise and  policy,  these  are  swept  away,  and  the  man  is 
undone.     Grand  old  Caleb  1     "  I  saw  with  my  own  eyes, 


404  TWO    GEA.ND    OLD    MEN. 

and  I  spoke  what  I  saw."  Open  your  eyes.  Look  at  the 
field  with  your  own  eyes.  "  Prospect  "  with  your  own  eyes 
and  heart,  and  make  and  take  your  stand  for  God,  Hke  a 
man.  That  is  what  is  needed  to  preserve  you  to  a  green 
old  age,  and  to  give  you  an  abundant  entrance  into  God's 
inheritance.  We  are  ruined  for  want  of  this.  **  I  wholly 
followed  the  Lord  my  God.  I  brought  word  again  as  it  was 
in  my  heart."  "Blessed,"  said  David,  long,  long  after- 
wards— "  Blessed  is  the  man  in  whose  spirit  there  is  no 
guile."  '*  The  double-minded  man  is  unstable  in  all  his 
ways."  It  is  the  dry-rot  of  his  character.  God  root  us 
and  ground  us — especially  those  of  us  who  need  it  and  know 
that  we  need  it— as  he  rooted  and  grounded  Caleb  at  that 
critical  hour  long,  long  ago ! 

And  now  in  the  12th  verse  the  old  warrior-spirit  breaks 
out,  the  ruling  passion,  not  weakened,  but  strengthened. 
''  Now  therefore  give  me  this  mountain,  whereof  the  Lord 
spake  in  that  day ;  if  so  be  the  Lord  be  with  me,  then  I 
shall  be  able  to  drive  the  Anakims  out,  as-  the  Lord  said." 
Man,  that  is  a  grand  thing  about  religion.  Not  long  ago 
a  man  was  driving  me  along  a  country  road,  and  the  horse 
got  quicker  and  quicker,  and  the  man  said  to  me,  "  Yes, 
*here  is  blood  in  him;  the  longer  he  runs,  the  keener  he  gets." 
So  with  men  who  give  themselves  wholly  to  God,  to  live  for 
God  in  inward  purity  and  outward  power.  The  longer  they 
liv6,  the  keener  they  are.  The  more  difficulties  multiply, 
the  more  the  Lord  will  gird  you  with  the  strength 
of  God.  Your  strength  grows  by  fighting.  You  become, 
as  it  were,   a  very  salamander  that  lives  in  the   flame 


TWO    GRAND    OLD    MEN.  405 

and  delights  in  it.  So  with  this  grand  old  warrior.  There 
is  no  pining  or  whining  in  that  man's  old  age.  There 
is  no  going  moping  about,  and  saying,  "  The  world  is 
going  to  the  dogs,"  and  *'  When  I  was  young."  Ah,  yes  ! 
when  you  were  young.  Caleb  does  not  say,  "  The  world  is 
going  to  the  dogs."  He  says,  "  Give  me  this  mountain 
where  the  Anakims  dwell.  I  am  dead  on  Anakims.  The 
very  size  of  them  made  me  feel,  when  I  first  saw  them, 
•  Well,  a  man  should  not  miss  a  mark  like  that,  if  he  has 
any  eye  in  his  head  at  all,  and  has  any  skill  for  handhng  a 
sword.'  Let  me  have  at  them."  It  was  the  same  when  he 
was  eighty-five  as  when  he  was  forty.  Forty  ?  Why  some 
of  you  at  forty  are  beginning  to  talk  as  if  you  were  old  men. 
God  correct  you.  Your  life  is  only  beginning.  Stand  in 
farther  into  the  front  rank,  then,  for  the  best  of  it  is  all  to 
come. 

To  illustrate  what  I  said  before,  that  the  best  Christian 
evidence  is  a  hardy  old  believer,  it  is  helpful  to  notice  that 
old  age,  as  a  rule,  is  not  sceptical.  Old  age,  as  a  rule,  is 
believing.  Those  who  have  gone  farthest,  those  who  have 
seen  the  most,  those  who  have  risen  earliest,  those  who 
have  travelled  farthest  along  this  pilgrim  life  with  its 
various  experience — they  are  the  men  who  come  to  have 
day  by  day,  and  year  by  year,  a  keener,  faster,  firmer  grip 
of  the  unseen  and  the  eternal.  Generally  speaking,  as  one 
has  truly  said,  "  Old  men  do  not  turn  infidels."  Caleb  was 
a  grand  specimen  of  a  man  who  entered  God's  service  with 
all  his  heart,  and  found  it  in  the  best  of  all  senses  to  pay- 
to  pay   good,  sterling,  current  money's  worth.      "  God's 


406  TWO   GRAND   OLD    MEN. 

service,"  he  says,  "pays.  I  am  as  keen  for  it  after  forty- 
five  years  as  I  was  the  day  I  began."  No  turning,  no 
change,  no  vacillation.  Stand  up,  old  man.  I  would  almost 
like  you  to  come  up  to  this  pulpit  here  and  make  me  sit 
down,  for  I  am  just  a  bairn  and  know  nothing.  I  would  like 
some  aged  man  to  come  here,  and  testify  for  God,  and  show 
us  his  hoar  hairs.  Stand  up,  and  show  us  the  light  of 
heaven  that  already  is  beginning  to  break  upon  your 
withered  cheek.  It  would  be,  I  repeat,  a  magnificent 
Christian  evidence,  a  splendid  sermon  on  God  and  on  the 
faithfulness  of  our  covenant  Redeemer.  Do  not  mope ;  do 
not  sigh;  do  not  give  way.  Remember  those  of  us  who  are 
coming  tramping  up  behind  you,  and  the  older  you 
are  getting,  and  the  more  the  day  is  wearing  through, 
the  more  clearly  speak  out.  Ring  out  your  testimony, 
and  encourage  us  who  are  coming  behind  that  we 
are  on  the  right  track,  and  that  there  is  no  failure  and 
no  discouragement,  from  youth  to  latest  age,  to  the  man 
who  makes  God  his  strength,  and  his  portion,  and  his 
way,  and  his  end.  Listen  to  these  well-spoken  words: 
*'  Thirty  years  ago,"  says  the  famous  Dr.  Kitto,  "before  the 
Lord  caused  me  to  wander  from  my  father's  house,  and  from 
my  native  place,  I  put  my  mark  upon  this  passage  in 
Isaiah — '  I  am  the  Lord ;  they  shall  not  be  ashamed  that 
wait  for  Me'  (Isa.  xlix.  23).  Of  the  many  books  I  now 
possess,  the  Bible  that  bears  this  mark  is  the  only  one  that 
belonged  to  i„^  a,*,  cnat  time.  It  now  lies  before  me ;  and 
I  find  that,  although  the  hair,  which  was  then  dark  as  night, 
has  become  'a  sable  silvered/  the  ink  which  marked  this  text 


TWO   GRAND   OLD   MEN.  407 

has  grown  into  intensity  of  blackness  as  the  time  advanced ; 
corresponding  with  and,  in  fact,  recording  the  growing 
intensity  of  the  conviction  that  '  they  shall  not  be  ashamed 
that  wait  for  Thee.'  I  believed  it  then,  but  I  know  it  now. 
I  can  write  probatum  est  with  my  whole  heart  over  against 
the  symbol  which  that  mark  is  to  me  of  my  early  faith.  .  .  . 
Under  many  perilous  circumstances,  in  many  most  trying 
scenes,  amid  faintings  within  and  fears  without,  under 
sorrows  that  rend  the  heart  and  troubles  that  crush  it 
down,  I  have  waited  for  Thee,  and  lo,  I  stand  this  day  as 
one  who  is  not  ashamed." 

I  could  speak  much  longer,  but  our  time  is  gone.  I  only 
wanted  these  old  men  to  give  us  their  testimony,  or, 
rather  that,  on  the  one  hand,  God  should  speak  to  us  for 
one  of  them  who  was,  perhaps,  getting  a  little  heavy  of 
heart  and  thought,  and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  this 
bright,  keen,  brave  old  Caleb  should  testify  to  us  of  his 
well-tried  experience. 

How  is  it  with  us  ?  "What  is  the  choice  which  we  are 
making?  These  men's  lives  began,  so  to  speak,  on  that 
memorable  occasion  when  they  returned  from  spying  out 
the  land.  If  they  had  given  in  to  the  majority,  if  they  had 
gone  with  "  the  spirit  of  the  age  "  (as  the  phrase  is),  if  they 
had  put  themselves  **  abreast  of  the  times,"  what  fools  they 
would  have  been !  They  put  themselves  abreast  of  the  times, 
but  in  the  same  way  as  a  fighter  puts  himself  abreast 
of  his  antagonist.  Foot  to  foot,  and  eye  to  eye,  they 
looked  dead  into  the  face  of  the  times,  and  they  said,  "  It  is 
a  lie;  the  land  is  good,  and  we  are  well  able  to  possess  it." 


408  TWO   GEAND   OLD   MEN. 

Face  the  times.  Stand  right  in  front  of  the  spirit  of  the 
age.  Contradict  it  to  its  face,  for  it  is  a  Har,  and  is  inspired 
by  the  god  of  this  world,  and  not  by  the  God  of  heaven. 
Eesist  the  times.  Put  yourself  abreast  of  them,  to  head 
them  off,  and  to  turn  them  into  a  new  direction,  but  by  no 
means  to  bemoan  them,  or  to  be  influenced  by  them ;  for 
the  world  from  age  to  age  is  represented  by  these  timid,  faint- 
hearted, untrustworthy,  false  reporters  about  God  and  about 
the  land  that  He  has  promised. 

Now,  brothers  and  sisters,  our  campaign  is  beginning, 
whether  here  or  elsewhere.  Are  we  going  in  to-night,  and 
henceforward,  like  Caleb  and  Joshua,  as  I  said  before,  for  a  full 
curriculum ;  first  of  all  the  truth,  nothing  but  the  truth,  deeply 
held  in  heart,  looking  out  at  the  eye,  and  working  out  in  the 
hand  and  the  lip  and  the  life,  from  hour  to  hour,  and  from 
day  to  day  ?  If  that  be  the  start  that  we  are  making,  God 
is  here  to  bless  us  and  encourage  us.  Let  us  be  young  or 
old,  let  us  be  rich  or  poor,  let  us  be  physically  sick  or  well, 
we  are  in  for  a  splendid  life. 

"  He  liveth  long  who  liveth  well ; 

All  else  is  being  flung  away. 
He  liveth  longest  who  can  tell 

Of  true  things  truly  done  each  day. 
Fill  up  the  hours  with  what  will  last ; 

Buy  up  the  moments  as  they  go. 
The  life  above,  when  this  is  past, 

Is  the  ripe  fruit  of  life  below." 

May  God  bless  the  preaching  of  His  Word  I 


Henderson  &  Spalding,  Printers,  i,  3  and  5,  JMarylebone  Lane,  London,  W. 


^: 


